Kingdom Hearts: Dawn Inbetween
by thDorkMagnet
Summary: Sora, Riku, and Kairi have finally returned home and are missing their friends. But, a dark force once again threatens the Realm of Light and the three are once again lost in an escapade that will have them face a reality that not even they are prepared for.
1. Island Life

A/N: This is thMagnet with my very first fanfiction. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Chapter 1: Island Life

It was a beautiful day on the island. The air was warm, the sun was shining, and the gentle island breeze made the leaves of the Paopu tree shake soothingly. And it was for this reason Sora felt at peace. He was sitting on a Paopu tree watching the sunset. He always went to watch the sunset. His eyes were closed allowing the warm, island breeze to wash over him, filling him with good thoughts. Thoughts about the places he had been, the things he had seen, and the friends he had made, especially his friends. He found himself thinking about them often, more so in the last few weeks. He couldn't seem to get his mind off of them.

So now as the sun slowly sunk lower into the sky, his mind drifted to the two he thought of the most, Donald and Goofy. They had all formed a close connection during their adventures and had risked their lives to help and protect each other, no matter what. But in the end, Donald and Goofy, as well as King Mickey and Pluto, had returned home to Disney Castle, leaving Sora behind. This shouldn't bother him, he knew that. After all, he was home on his beloved islands with his two closest friends, Riku and Kairi. Still, to Sora it felt like a piece of him had left with them. Sora sighed and leaned back against the tree, deep in thought. So deep, in fact, he didn't see the person approaching.

"Hey Sora!" A voice sounded. Sora, startled, screamed and fell off the tree and landed roughly on the sandy ground. He was moaning in pain when he heard the familiar sound of laughter. And that laugh, Sora knew, could belong to none other than...

"Riku!" Sora exclaimed, smiling. Riku, Sora's best and closest friend, grabbed Sora's outstretched hand, pulling him to his feet.

"Serves you right letting your guard down like that," Riku said.

"Give me a break, you're worse than Kairi," Sora replied. The two laughed for a while, glad to be sharing each others company. Sora had known Riku for as long as he could remember. They shared a close connection and an unbreakable friendship. And it was for this reason that Sora could see, though Riku hid it well, the sadness creeping into his friend's voice and eyes. Sora had first noticed it nearly a month ago, but it had been getting worse in the last couple of weeks. Sora knew what the cause of Riku's sadness was. What he didn't know was how to make his friend feel better.

…

Kairi was getting better. She knew she was. It had taken a _lot_ of work but she finally felt like she was making some progress. Her magic was shaky, _very_ shaky, but after all the time and practice she had put in she knew she could hold her own in a fight. This was thanks to Sora and Riku having spent much of their time since returning to Destiny Islands to instruct her. They were both great teachers and wonderful friends, Kairi felt lucky to have them looking out for her.

Today, though, she had decided to take a much needed break and go to the cove. The cove was not visited often, seeing as how it was somewhat hidden on the other side of the island. But this was a place of memories for her, because this had been the spot where her and her two friends had constructed the pinnacle of their young lives, a raft.

It was loosely constructed of logs tied together with rope and a piece of canvas they had found for the sail. It was filled with food rations consisting of coconuts, fish, mushrooms, fresh water, and a large seagull egg Sora had managed to track down. It had been constructed for one reason only, to leave these islands and explore the outside worlds. Riku had done the majority of the work while Kairi and Sora had slacked off a bit. It occurred to Kairi that this might be because out of the three of them, Riku wanted it the most. Kairi had finally wrapped her mind around the idea and had been ready to leave with her friends the day after they had it finished, but then the storm had struck…

Kairi found the raft right where they had left it, and then she found herself lost in memories. Memories of Sora, Riku, their long journey, her return home to the islands and separation from them, of her leaving the island and the friends she had made while there, of the Organization snatching her up, and finally, of her friends rescuing her, their triumph over her captors, and their return home to their islands once again. Then suddenly she saw a girl in a white dress, a girl she knew almost too well. The girl was sitting in a room that was all white, drawing. She seemed, at least to Kairi, to be… sad. Kairi felt tears in her eyes and as the memory faded Kairi said the one word that was needed, "Namine."

…

Sora and Riku sat together on the Paopu tree, talking and laughing. They shared with each other stories of their adventures on and off their island home. Riku told of his experiences as Maleficent's pawn, or at least what he could remember of it. As well as his adventures with his friend Mickey. Sora then told Riku of the different worlds he had visited and all he had seen. Finally, Sora and Riku talked about their final battle with Xemnas and the rest of the Organization XIII and their triumphant return home to the islands.

"Who would have thought Kairi's note would have reached us all the way into the dark realms," Sora said.

"I guess she just wanted it to," Riku said.

"Yeah."

No more was said. No more needed to be said. They both knew that Kairi was special. Sora felt the awkward pause that had formed between them and realized that his mind had drifted. Drifted to the the two who had been there waiting for Sora along with Kairi. Sora wished so badly to see them again. And then the guilt hit Sora as he remembered how long Riku and Kairi had worked getting home. How much they had risked to be together again.

"So," Sora said, feeling a need to push those thoughts away. "How is Kairi's training coming along."

"Well, she can't freeze anything bigger than a mushroom, she can barely produce a measly puff of smoke, and don't get me started on her thunder."

"Is it that bad?"

"No, it's that good. She almost barbequed me the other day." Sora laughed.

"She's almost as bad as you." Sora stopped laughing and glared at Riku.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Riku just smiled. "Nothing, it's just…"

"It's just what?"

"We both know you're not exactly gifted in magic." Sora was starting to get mad now.

"Hey!" Riku laughed as Sora crossed his arms defensively. "And stop laughing it's not funny."

Riku continued to laugh anyway. "When you make that face it is."

Sora smiled and the two burst into laughter, glad to be sharing each others company. All other thoughts were erased in this pleasant moment. Suddenly, Sora felt light-headed. Everything around him was spinning, and he felt himself falling. He felt an arm grab him and Riku's startled voice, but Sora couldn't respond. As Riku's voice echoed through his head he saw someone else. It was a boy in a black cloak. He was sitting eating ice cream and Sora could tell he wanted to tell him something, something important, something…

"Sora!" Sora's eyes blinked open and as his head began to clear he became aware of his surroundings again. He was lying on the sandy ground and he could see the Paopu tree above him. He figured he must have fallen and Riku had caught him. He saw Riku appear in his line of vision and felt a pang of guilt when he saw the look on Riku's face.

"You okay?" Riku asked as he helped Sora slowly to his feet.

"Yeah, just a dizzy spell is all," Sora said not looking Riku in the eyes when he said it. Riku didn't look the least bit convinced but didn't question his friend either. Sora quickly added, "I'm fine, really," though he still felt a bit light-headed.

"Well if you're sure," Riku replied quietly.

Sora could tell Riku was on the verge of saying something, but the conversation ended just then when they heard Kairi call to them, much to Sora's relief. When she reached them she explained about her trip to the cove, but not wanting her friends to worry, chose to leave the part about Namine out.

The three friends spent the rest of the day together watching the sunset and talking. Then, as the bright stars filled the night sky, the three each entered the canoes they had come to the island on. Kairi left first and her friends stood on the dock waving and shouting their good-byes. Then Sora began climbing into his canoe saying a quick good-bye to Riku, but was stopped when Riku put a hand on his shoulder. Sora turned to look at him

"You sure you're okay?" Riku asked and Sora saw the worry in his friend's eyes.

"I'm fine," Sora said while brushing his friend's hand off his shoulder. "Just tired." Sora climbed into the boat feeling guilty for lying to Riku's face. He could feel Riku's eyes on him as he pushed off from the dock. He told himself it was for Riku's own good but he was having trouble believing himself.

From the dock, Riku watched Sora row away telling himself to believe his friend, that nothing was wrong. But he couldn't shake the feeling. Finally, Riku climbed into his own boat and began rowing away, unaware of the black cloaked figure watching from the shadows.

A/N: I'll try to be updating every week with a new chapter. Thanks to everyone who helped with making this. May God bless you and give you a good week. See you soon!


	2. Almost Ready

A/N: This is thMagnet again with my second chapter, I hope you all love it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, just love playing it and writing about it. (Meant to put that in the last chapter as well. Sorry!)

Chapter 2: Almost Ready

The island rang with the sounds of crashing metal, coming from the small inlet where the precious Paopu tree resided. Kairi stumbled having been knocked back by a hard swing from Riku's Keyblade, Way to the Dawn.

He assumed his fighting stance saying, "Not bad, considering the short amount of time you've had, but I know you can do better." She resumed her own fighting stance and held her Keyblade, Destiny's Embrace, to her side. She smiled, knowing Riku's meaning for always pushing her to her limits, trying to improve her, to make her better. With good reason! Twice now she had been caught by Sora and Riku's enemies and had to be rescued. They were both going out of their way to see to it she could protect herself, in case they weren't there to protect her. She felt lucky more than anything to have them looking out for her.

Her thoughts were broken as Riku charged her and she instinctively raised her Keyblade up clashing with Riku's. Riku and Kairi both jumped back and then each took their stance. This time Kairi swung first aiming for Riku's unguarded side, but Riku quickly jumped to the side swinging the Keyblade down in the process. Kairi's Keyblade was pinned to the ground and Kairi was forced to let go. The Keyblade dispersed into nothingness and Riku swung toward Kairi. Kairi ducked and did a dodge roll out of the way. She jumped to her feet and held her hand out. Destiny's Embrace appeared into her hand and she swung around toward Riku. Riku having no time to counter was forced to cartwheel out of the way. Riku smiled, taken aback by Kairi's speed and agility.

"Nice move, but now let's see some magic," he said. Kairi nodded and held the Keyblade out in front of her. She focused all her energy into her Keyblade allowing it to create the treasured energy needed. Ice began forming on the tip of her Keyblade growing bigger and stronger by the minute. Then suddenly it shot forward, hitting Riku, but the momentum from the blast knocked Kairi back. She stumbled, but managed to keep her footing.

She smiled and looked up at her teacher. She gasped at the sight she saw. Riku was not frozen solid as she had anticipated. In fact, the only sign of her performing magic at all was a small patch of ice not even fully covering Riku's right shoulder. Riku looked at the bit of ice and flicked it off his shoulder, undamaged or even cold.

Suddenly, laughter erupted from behind the two and they turned to see Sora laughing his head off. He stood on the bridge connecting the island to the inlet and Kairi figured he had been standing there for a while. Kairi put her hands on her hips.

"And what's so funny?"

Sora tried to stop laughing, seeing Kairi's glare, but found himself unable to stop. Riku smiled as Kairi huffily turned her back on Sora. Sora put an arm on her shoulder saying between gasps of laughter, "I'm sorry, it was just so funny."

Kairi crossed her arms and Sora sat down on the Paopu tree trying to compose himself. "No offense," he said. "But you need to work on your magic if you're ever going to beat me _or_ Riku."

Riku smiled and said to Kairi, "well if he feels that way, then why don't you show Sora your secret weapon."

"Her what now?" Sora asked.

Riku gave Kairi a wink and she returned it with a wink of her own and a smile. She held her Keyblade up and took a deep breath, letting the magic gather. Then she yelled as loud as she could, "Thunder!"

Instantly, a bolt of lightning came down and struck the Paopu tree knocking an unsuspecting Sora off of it. Sora fell and landed in the salty sea water with a large splash. Sora came up out of the water a few seconds later coughing and sputtering. He could hear Riku and Kairi laughing from above. He looked up at them and gave them a look of anger. This only caused his friends to laugh harder and Sora finally smiled at them.

Moments later Sora was sitting on the shore, waiting to dry, with his friends. The three just sat in silence for a while listening to the sound of the waves and thinking. Finally, Kairi broke the silence saying what the three had been thinking, "I miss our friends."

Sora and Riku turned and stared at her in complete shock that she would actually say that out loud. It just didn't seem right after everything that had happened. Then Sora sighed and said, "yeah, Donald, Goofy, and the King. We visited so many worlds, made so many friends, and … now I can't see them."

Sora looked down at his feet, a look of sadness on his face. His friends just stared, taken aback by their normally cheerful friend's sudden change in mood, their own longings drifting in the silence of the moment.

"Even after I promised I would."

…

The figure in the black cloak walked forward into the surrounding darkness, listening for the sound of footsteps following him. It was unneeded to do this, he knew the place was well hidden, but you can never be too careful. They had been very careful in picking a place for this meeting and he had been assured time and time again that this place was safe. His meeting would not be disturbed.

He found himself in a cave covered with drawings. Some were well detailed, most looked almost too rough to decipher. It was obvious by their rough detail of the pictures they had been drawn by kids. They seemed to cover every wall, rock, and corner of the cave. He found it funny how being in this dark cave gave him a feeling of comfort.

The figure spotted a door in the cave as well. It was large and had a look of uncertainty about it, almost menacing even. Near this door was a second figure, also wearing the dark cloak and hood. He was gazing at one of the pictures in the cave and as the first figure approached, he saw it was of a boy and a girl, their arms extending Paopu fruit to each other.

The second figure's hood shriveled as it turned to look at the first.

"Did you see him?" he asked.

"If you mean Sora then yeah," the other replied.

The figure paused a moment before replying. "How is he?"

"His condition is stable, for now, but the memory flow process has already begun."

"Then we must hurry."

"Yes, we must."

The two figures stood silent, their hoods aimed at each other.

"What if he isn't ready?" the first asked.

"He will be."

"And you're sure this can't wait?"

"No, the plan must proceed before the other gets too weak." The two stared at each other for a few seconds longer, and then the first turned to leave.

"Roxas!"

The hooded figure stopped mid-step. He turned slowly back to his accomplice.

"He is ready, I'm sure of it," he said. The two locked gaze.

"And if you're wrong?"

They both stared at each other for what seemed to be eternity. Finally, the second turned away. The hooded boy named Roxas continued walking. Soon, only one dark, hooded figure remained in the hidden cave. He slowly looked back at the cave drawing of the two kids. His gaze lingered on the smiling boy with spiky hair and he whispered to himself.

"Well, we'll just have to hope I'm not."

A/N: Thanks again to all you fans of Kingdom Hearts for loving these games as much as me. Thanks also to Freelance Bookworm Editing for the amazing job of finding the mistakes I didn't see. Thanks to all the fans who rate and review, makes it so much more worthwhile to write. May God bless you and I'll see you in a week. Later.


	3. Darkness Returns

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, just wrote a really awesome story from it. Square Enix owns Kingdom Hearts, so please don't sue, I have no money. Seriously.

Chapter 3: Darkness Returns

The three sat in uncomfortable silence, each lost in their own troubled thoughts. The memories of their friends weighing heavily on their minds. It was finally Kairi who broke the silence.

"Well, then let's go see them." Sora and Riku stared at each other and then back at Kairi.

"Really?" Sora asked.

"Sure! I've been missing them,too. I just... wasn't sure how to tell you."

"I felt that way too!"

"Same here," Riku said.

Kairi sighed, "I'm glad we're all on the same page."

"Yeah," Sora said. "Guess I was worried for nothing."

"Guess we all were," Kairi said.

Sora smiled, feeling the tension of the moment finally drifting away.

" If we're all agreeing to leaving the island then, first of all we need to see the others over at Disney Castle. You know Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, and them. Then we'll go see Hayner and the gang in Twilight Town. Then…"

Riku smiled as Sora continued on. _Looks like things are back to normal._ Then suddenly Riku sensed something dark nearby. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something disappear out of sight. He wasn't sure what it was, but the feeling was unmistakable.

Riku looked over at his friends. Sora was busy talking about their travel plans and Kairi was fully focused on Sora. Neither of them had seen the figure.

Sora looked over at Riku and seeing his intense focus, put a hand on his shoulder.

"Riku!" Sora said and Riku looked over at Sora, his face now blank and out of focus.

"You okay?"

Riku considered telling Sora about what he had sensed, but remembering the look of happiness on his friend's face, he couldn't quite bring himself to do it. Riku looked away and Sora could tell he was distracted by something. Finally Riku answered, "Yeah, I just need to go do something."

He resolved to handling it himself, there was no need to get Sora involved. He stood and Sora leaned over closer catching a glimpse of his friend's face.

"Be right back," Riku said over his shoulder. Kairi watched him go and asked Sora, "What was that about?"

Sora just shook his head, the look of grim determination of Riku's face still lingering in his mind. He wondered what was wrong.

…

The Cove was uncharacteristically silent. This was the first thing Riku noticed. The sound of birds and breeze were no longer present and Riku felt unease as nature yielded to the tension of the moment. Riku walked across the broken bridge every muscle tense, every sense alert, his very being seemed awake and ready for the unseen attack that was sure to come.

The figure was waiting for him just beyond the bridge, his back to Riku. "Hey!" Riku called out to the figure as he summoned Way to the Dawn. The figure slowly turned toward him. The two stood facing each other, Riku staring into the blackness of the hood his Keyblade up, ready to strike. But the figure just stared though its faceless hood at Riku, not showing any form of antagonism, just... staring. Riku, confused by the figures lack of aggression, decided to call out to him.

"Are you gonna fight or what?"

To this the figure slowly turned his head from side to side. Riku let his grip lesson on his Keyblade but didn't quite allow his guard to drop. The lack of hostility seemed questionable to Riku and he didn't trust it. Still, this was as good a time as any to get some answers.

"Why are you here?" he asked the clocked form. But instead of answering, a Door to Darkness appeared behind it and it began walking backward into the swirling void of black, never taking its eyes off Riku. Riku ran at the figure shouting "Wait!" just as the Door disappeared.

Riku turned out to sea, his mind lost in troubling questions to which he had no answer. As his mind swirled with these unanswerable inquiries, a strange thought occurred to him.

"Why did he seem so... familiar?"

Riku, being unable to answer, shook his head clear of worrying thoughts and turned to leave. But suddenly he sensed something dark behind him.

And then he heard the roar.

…

"Sora," Kairi said, her eyes trained on the sunset. "Do you remember Namine?"

Sora thought for a second. "Yeah at Kingdom Hearts, when she and Roxas helped us escape."

"Well yes," Kairi continued. "But I actually meant before that."

"Before?" Sora wondered aloud, trying to remember when exactly Kairi meant.

"I don't get it. I never met Namine before then. I mean I feel like I knew her but that was just Roxas remembering for me, right?"

"I suppose so. But I've been thinking about that day and how Roxas told Namine about seeing each other the way they remembered. And then I got to thinking that the only way to remember us is to have met us before."

Sora looked out to sea, his mind adrift, as if carried on the gentle breeze that surrounded him. Finally he answered Kairi. "Did you ever meet Roxas?"

Kairi nodded. "Yes, and he called me Namine at first. I had to tell him my real name."

Sora laid back on the soft sand, "So then that means I must have met her, at some point. I wonder when that was."

Kairi sat in silence her eyes no longer on the sunset but on Sora, still laying down next to her, his mind lost in thoughts he couldn't make sense of. Kairi eventually looked away, staring in the direction Riku had gone and said, "Riku's been gone a really long time."

Sora sat up and looked toward the cove too. "Yeah, guess we should go look for him, before it gets any darker out."

Sora and Kairi stood and began heading for the cove. When they got to the door that led to there, Sora found it locked. "Huh, that's weird its never been locked before," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Guess you better unlock it," Kairi replied.

"Yeah."

Sora stepped back and summoned his Keyblade. He held it up, ready to unlock the stubborn door when he heard Kairi gasp and say in a very surprised voice, "Look!"

Sora now seeing Kairi's pointing finger, turned and stared out to sea. But even looking at it, Sora couldn't believe it. Though the sun was still somewhat in the sky, getting very close to setting, the sea water around the small island was turning a deep, dark black. Sora recognized it at once, having seen it before, and wishing he wasn't seeing it again.

"Darkness," he said, his voice barely a whisper.

He reached over and grabbed Kairi's hand, pulling her back the way they had come.

"Come on!"

"Sora," Kairi said. "Where are we going?"

"To seal the Keyhole before anymore darkness escapes," Sora replied.

Hearing this, Kairi quickened her pace.

…

Riku turned to see the Dark Thorn standing threateningly over him. Riku jumped back, clearing the monsters huge, relentless paws as they slammed into the ground where Riku had been standing. The monster roared and Riku summoned his Keyblade blocking a slash from the Heartsless' deadly claws.

The monster charged at Riku and Riku did a sliding dash under the beast just as it threw all its weight down. The impact shook the ground and Riku was thrown off balance. He staggered, giving the monster enough time to turn and slash at it prey. Riku, having no time to ducked or dodge out of the way, took the hit full force this time, and was thrown backwards. Riku felt himself slam, hard, into the lookout tower that he and Sora had often played in as kids.

Riku stood, with pain-staggering effort and quickly shot a blasts of Aura at the charging monster. The Dark Thorn was only slowed slightly and it quickly caught up to Riku. It swung a massive paw at Riku but Riku having positioned his feet behind him, on top of the lookout tower, propelled himself upward heading straight for the Heartless boss but also avoiding the deadly assault from the monstrous claws. He did a wide swing at the monster giving a high impact strike on its unguarded center. The monster fell back, giving an earsplitting roar out of anger and pain.

Riku waited for it patiently, his mind calm and at ease. But when the monster stood it instead turned invisible, disappearing from Riku's sight. Riku, now blind to the Dark Thorn, closed his eyes and listened, waiting. He heard the sound of its massive paws slamming into the ground nearby and smiled. He turned and lashed out at the unsuspecting monster, his Keyblade fully slashing through the creature. For a moment, the creature was still, unmoving. Then suddenly it fell to the ground, completely stunned, shaking the earth as it landed. Riku turned and saw darkness beginning to surround the beast. The darkness quickly overtook it and it dissolved into nothingness.

Riku's Keyblade dispersed and he smiled. "Well that's one problem down, but that still leaves..." Riku's gaze drifted toward the sea. He gasped seeing the darkening water. "What! Is that... darkness!?" Riku gave an exasperated sigh. "Looks like there's more problems then I thought. Better get the others."

And with that Riku began heading to the other side of the island as the sky above grew darker by the second.

A/N: Sorry guys for the delay, lost my account and haven't been able to post. Thanks for your patience. But now I'm back and am gonna start posting, though don't expect it on any certain day because I don't have internet at my house right now. I'll post as soon as I can. Love You!

Alternate Ending: Then suddenly Riku stopped in his tracks, he knew by the sound of the epic music playing there must be a heartless boss nearby! TeeHee!


	4. Lost

Disclaimer: Don't own Kingdom Hearts!

Chapter 4: Lost

The world was breaking apart. This was the first thing Kairi noticed. Cracks were forming all over the island, breaking it apart. Kairi looked over at Sora. "Sora-"

"I know," Sora said, looking at Kairi but not stopping. "It'll be okay."

Suddenly, through the darkness of near night, glowing yellow eyes appeared. Sora and Kairi stopped in their tracks as the little, yellow orbs surrounded them in unending numbers. A Shadow Heartless, suddenly compelled to attack, jumped at Kairi only to be destroyed from a single swing of Sora's Keyblade.

Now, all the Heartless were riled up with mirth and began a ferocious barrage against the Keybearers. They returned this with a deadly counter-play on all creature that dared approach. Kairi parried a slashing claw while Sora sliced through an air born Shadow. Sora dodged a swiping claw while Kairi's Keyblade swung through a group of Shadows. Four Shadows appeared around Sora and with a quick burst of fire magic, flames erupting from all around him, they all faded to nothingness. Kairi swung down at a troublesome Shadow but it phased into the ground out of harms way. Kairi stumbled and three Heartless were upon her in milliseconds.

Sora turned hearing Kairi's cry of distress. Quickly he swung through the group of Heartless standing between him and his friend, all while gaining ground on the creatures. One wide swing from Sora's Keyblade and all three were vanquished instantly. Sora helped Kairi up and then protectively moved around her, putting distance between Kairi and the dark creatures coating the sandy, broken beach in black. Sora preparing to go into another onslaught gazed behind and quickly yelled, "Kairi go! It's all up to you now!"

Then without a moments hesitation, Kairi took off for the cave slicing through any Heartless that blocked her path. She only looked back once and saw the creatures surrounding Sora on all sides, mercilessly attacking their victim. She could see Sora's valiant effort to hold the Heartless at bay, but Kairi knew that Sora was at the disadvantage here. Outnumbered, out of practice, and with little to no hope of backup, even Sora couldn't last forever. _The Keyhole is Sora's only chance now_, Kairi realized._ I have to focus on the task ahead._ With that, Kairi hoped for the best and quickened her pace.

…

Riku squinted, trying to see through the enshrouding darkness his island had become, and managed to see the glowing yellow eyes and the illuminating, but dimming, light of a Keyblade, just a short distance away.Riku quickly jumped into the battle without a second thought, striking down all that stood in his way.

"Riku!" Sora cried in shock and relief at seeing his friend. Riku saw by how heavily Sora panted that he had shown up at the last possible second, that if he hadn't shown up when he did... well at least Sora was okay.

"It looked like you could use a hand," Riku said, casting cure on his exhausted friend. Then the two turned to face the growing swarm, standing back to back, their Keyblades drawn.

"I see you didn't wait to start the fight without me," Riku said.

"Well, we didn't have all that much of a choice about it," Sora replied.

"Good point," Riku said as he slashed through an advancing Heartless.

"Where's Kairi?"

"She's sealing the Keyhole." Sora said, as he sidestepped a swinging paw and then returned the blow. "We have to hold off this swarm."

Riku smiled. "Just like old times."

The Heartless mob diminished rapidly as the two friends fought back together. However, they didn't notice in their attack, the floor turning dark underneath them. Sora was in a mid-swing when he felt something pulling him down. He looked down at the pool of darkness that was fast becoming a black hole.

"Sora!" Riku yelled now seeing the expanding pool. Riku reached for his friend but it was too late, Sora was gone. Only Riku remained. Then Riku felt it too, something dragging him down. He struggled and fought but he couldn't escape. Then he too was gone, lost into the darkness.

…

Kairi saw the Keyhole glowing up ahead, shining through the darkness. She ran blind trusting the light at the end of the tunnel to guide her. Before long she was at the main part of the cave. The drawings her and her friends had spent their childhood drawing were all around her, but she didn't have time to inspect or enjoy them. Her eyes lay on the door and the Keyhole that now lay on it.

Her Keyblade summoned in her hand but she barely noticed. She was entranced by the Keyhole, unable to see or notice anything else. She felt as if she were drawn to it, though why she couldn't understand. She briefly wondered if Sora had ever felt that way.

With the thought of Sora she snapped back to reality. Sora was counting on her, possibly even Riku she had to succeed... and she had to hurry. She took a deep breath allowing her thoughts to calm, then she raised her Keyblade to the Keyhole as Sora had instructed.

The results were immediate. Light shined from the Keyblade, surging outward until it entered the Keyhole. The Keyhole sparked to life as it was activated. Kairi smiled knowing she had done her part.

Then, she was startled as an eerily familiar voice shouted "No!" Kairi quickly turned around and was even more startled to see a figure in a well-known black cloak. Kairi,feeling the urgency of the situation, turned the Keyblade like Sora had shown her. The figure rushed forward, intent on stopping her. But then she heard a click and before either could react, light exploded from the Keyhole, engulfing everything.

Then, Kairi felt a warmth, it swarmed all around her, making her feel safe. She briefly remembered feeling this way before, but when she couldn't remember. Then, she felt something hot at her neck, its heat stronger and more powerful than all the warmth flowing around her. She reached up and felt her fingers land on the object of the heat.

It was her necklace, the one she had been wearing for as far back as she could remember. She wasn't sure why but she could never quite bring herself to take it off. She felt strangely safer with it on.

Suddenly, she felt herself losing consciousness as her mind drifted away, leaving her in the blinding light. And as the brilliant light surrounding her began to disappear to darkness, she could feel the necklace, like a tiny fireball, growing hotter and stronger all the time, pulsing to the silent beat of her own heart.

Alternate Ending: Riku squinted, trying to see through the enshrouding darkness his island had become, and managed to see the glowing yellow eyes and the illuminating, but dimming, light of a Keyblade, just a short distance away. Then Riku thought... Wait a minute, this is no time to think! With that he preceded to hit himself over the head with his Keyblade. And so, unable to think he flung himself into the battle without a second thought. TeeHee

A/N: Thank you to thDork for the awesome picture and amazing humor. And thanks to the fans for reading my story, TTYL, more coming soon.


	5. An Unexpected Guest

Chapter 5: An Unexpected Guest

All was quiet and peaceful in Disney Castle and as Goofy took his morning stroll through the hallway, shortly to be followed by his morning nap in the courtyard, he hummed merrily, with not a care in the world. Life felt good to him and things were right with the world. Goofy couldn't help but think that nothing could ruin this moment.

Unfortunately, life had a way of proving him wrong. Goofy was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't see the cleaning crew just finishing up their morning mopping. Goofy's foot landed, almost instinctively, on a small bar of soap that sent him sliding across the room, knocking over buckets of soapy water and sending the living brooms tumbling. Goofy hit a bump in the rug and went flying across the room with a "Ya-ha-hoey!"

Finally, Goofy crash landed in the neatly stacked pile of used buckets, giving a loud and resounding crash. Having heard the ruckus, Donald and Mickey appeared from behind the door to the Audience Chamber and gasped as they assessed the damage. The cleaning crew lay scattered in heaps on the floor, soapy water and overturned buckets littered the hallways, making them a slippery, dangerous mess.

"_What is going on in here?_" Donald asked in a raised tone.

Goofy sat up, sending more buckets scattering, a bucket stuck on his head and one on his left foot.

"Hey who turned out the lights?" Goofy's muffled voice sounded from the bucket.

Mickey, ignoring Goofy's whacky moment, turned to the brooms.

"Who made this mess?" Mickey asked and his reply was immediate as every broom pointed at the bucket-headed culprit.

"That figures." Donald mumbled angrily as Mickey gave a dispirited sigh.

Some very aggravated brooms stormed over to Goofy and began surrounding him. One ripped the bucket from his head, while the other removed the bucket from his foot. Mickey pushed his way through the crowd of brooms and helped Goofy to his feet.

"Aww, Goof did ya trip on the soap again."

Goofy looked sheepishly at Mickey and gave a simple "Sorry."

Mickey turned to the crowd of angry brooms and cleared his throat before saying, "My friend Goofy is sorry for the damage he has caused. Please go back about your business while I resolve this matter. Thank you for your full cooperation."

With that the brooms disrupted and went reluctantly back about their business, cleaning up the mess Goofy had left and very obviously upset by it.

Just then Pluto came running up the stairs from the courtyard, barking loudly. As he reached the top of the stairs, he slid across the slippery floor colliding into the unfortunate Goofy and knocking both of them to the ground.

"Nice to see ya Pluto," Goofy said his body all but crushed under the pups weight. "Would ya mind getting' off me, though?"

Mickey and Donald arrived helping the two up from their heap on the floor. Once recovered, Pluto began barking loudly and running in small circles.

"What is it boy?" Mickey asked, giving his loyal pet a pat on the head. But before Pluto could do anything else, Chip and Dale arrived, racing up the stairs as fast as they could, shouting, "Your Majesty! It was awful!"

They both came to an immediate halt, however, upon reaching Mickey and gave him their signature salute.

"What seems to be the trouble?" Mickey asked the pint-sized gummi navigators.

The two chipmunks flashed a knowing look at each other before firing off in a burst of high pitched ramblings that overpowered one another. Mickey and the gang just watched in confusion as the explanation turned to arguments, ending in a _whack_ over little Dale's head.

"Can you two just get to the point already!" Donald said with obvious irritation.

"Um, fellas so your trying to tell me that something is wrong, right?" Mickey asked slowly.

"Yeah." Chip said."We were taking a nut break out in the Gummi Hanger when.."

"We saw it. And it was just awful, your Majesty!" Dale explained quickly.

"And what exactly did you see." Donald said, his vexation rising to a new level.

"A bright flash of light out in the courtyard," Chip explained.

"Yeah it hurt my eyes real bad," Dale added.

"Flash of light, huh?" Mickey said, deep in thought.

"Hmmm, well maybe we should go fumigate?" Goofy said.

"Investigate!" Donald said angrily.

"Yes we certainty should," Mickey said, already heading for the door.

…

The courtyard was peaceful. Not a noise or a breeze disturbed the quite of the garden property. In fact, as far as Mickey could tell, there was no sign of a disturbance anywhere. From the looks on the faces of his friends, he could tell they had come to a similar conclusion as well.

"Well, nothing seems out of border." Goofy said giving the grounds a sweeping gaze.

"Order" Mickey corrected. "And no, it doesn't."

"So what should we do your Majesty," Donald asked and all eyes turned to Mickey.

"Well..." Mickey paused not sure what to say, luckily Dale always had something to say.

"Maybe we should send a search party," he said.

Chip gave him a whack on the head and replied, "No ones missing stupid!"

"I meant a search party for the source of that light." Dale said angrily.

"Well that's not what that's called."

"Then what is it called?!"

As the argument continued Mickey and the others observed the castle grounds. If something was out of place, Mickey and his friends couldn't spot what it was. Finally, the chipmunks arguing become too much for Mickey and he decided it was best to intervene, before things got any worse.

"Um, fellas. We got this. You two can go back about your business."

With that Chip and Dale gave a salute, a "Yes, your majesty", and were off.

With Chip and Dale gone Mickey, Donald, and Goofy began discussing and debating their plan of action for the situation. Meanwhile, curious Pluto was sniffing eagerly at a familiar scent he had just picked up. His tail waged happily and his nose snuffed away as he was led closer to the source of the well-known scent.

Eventually he arrived at a little quiet patch of grass, hidden from the eyes of passerbys. Pluto's ears pricked up upon seeing the familiar face lying on the soft grass. Mickey and the others were startled upon hearing Pluto's excited barks of joy and ran to see what he had discovered. They all stopped short when they saw who it was they had found.

"K-Kairi!" Donald gasped, unable to believe Sora's friend was there in their castle.

"How did she get here, your Majesty?" Goofy asked in a whisper so as not to disturb her.

"I'm not sure." Mickey said. "But let's get her inside. She'll tell us when she wakes."

A/N: More coming soon.


	6. Dive to the Heart

Chapter 6: Dive to the Heart

Sora was falling. Or he felt like he was falling. He felt strange, like he was awake but somehow asleep. Sora was drifting and he wasn't sure if he would ever stop. Then, he felt his feet touch ground. Light surrounded him and then he looked up to see... birds?

Something felt familiar to him, had he been here before?

He looked down and saw.. himself.

Himself on a platform of some sort.

"Where am I," Sora wondered aloud, his voice slow and calm, devoid of any emotion.

_Here, _a voice replied_. In the safety of your own light._

"My light?"

_Your light shines brighter than you know. Don't ever forget that, no matter how far you go and how bad things may seem, your light is yours. And it can light the path home._

"I don't understand."

_You will, very soon._

"Can I ask a question?"

_Yes._

"Who are you?"

_… I'm someone you know, but have forgotten. The key to remembering lies inside._

"It lies inside. So what happens now."

_Now you have what you need for your journey. The knowledge to overcome adversity. So I will send you on your way._

"My way?"

_Find the truth that lies inside. It will lead you to the solution. And the solution will reveal to you your destiny._

"Wait, what's the..." Then a blinding light filled the area. Sora couldn't see anything, but he felt a familiar warmth. When the warmth and light was gone he saw in front of him a door. The door was familiar as well, he had seen it before. It was all the same. It was all part of the same dream. Then the door opened and light covered him again.

_Is any of this for real_, Sora thought. He closed his eyes, letting the warmth of the light guide him. _Or is this... a dream._

_A/N: _Got more on the way.


	7. Dive to the Heart Final Mix

Disclaimer: Don't own the title Final Mix... or the + sign. All rights go to whoever decided Japan needed a better version. Oh, and Square Enix. … and math.

A/N: There is a little extra at the end for you. Enjoy.

Chapter 6 Final Mix +: Dive to the Heart [a.k.a. Japanese (good) version]

Sora was falling. Or he felt like he was falling. He felt strange, like he was awake but somehow asleep. Sora was drifting and he wasn't sure if he would ever stop. Then, he felt his feet touch ground. Light surrounded him and then he looked up to see... birds?

Something felt familiar to him, had he been here before?

He looked down and saw.. himself.

Himself on a platform of some sort.

"Where am I," Sora wondered aloud, his voice slow and calm, devoid of any emotion.

_Here, _a voice replied_. In the safety of your own light._

"My light?"

_Your light shines brighter than you know. Don't ever forget that, no matter how far you go and how bad things may seem, your light is yours. And it can light the path home._

"I don't understand."

_You will, very soon._

"Can I ask a question?"

_Yes._

"Who are you?"

_… I'm someone you know, but have forgotten. The key to remembering lies inside._

"It lies inside. So what happens now."

_Now you have what you need for your journey. The knowledge to overcome adversity. So I will send you on your way._

"My way?"

_Find the truth that lies inside. It will lead you to the solution. And the solution will reveal to you your destiny._

"Wait, what's the..." Then a blinding light filled the area. Sora couldn't see anything, but he felt a familiar warmth. When the warmth and light was gone he saw in front of him a door. The door was familiar as well, he had seen it before. It was all the same. It was all part of the same dream. Then the door opened and light covered him again.

_Is any of this for real_, Sora thought. He closed his eyes, letting the warmth of the light guide him. _Or is this... a dream._

Sora was immersed in the light, blinded by its radiance, lost in its warmth. So he never saw the girl in the black cloak, smiling gently at him. He never heard her whisper, _Good luck Sora_.

And he never saw the tears gently running down her cheeks.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. By the way in this chapter only, Sora is wearing an alternate outfit and a crown the whole time.


	8. Schemings and Plots

Chapter 7: Schemings and Plots

Riku woke slowly, aware of the immense pounding in his head. He paused allowing the throbbing to subdue enough for him to stand. As he waited, Riku became distinctly aware of a strange roaring in his ears, until it was all he could hear.

Finally, Riku felt he had rested long enough and sat up, seeing the source of the strange roaring he had heard, a waterfall... falling up. Riku, now aware of his location, gave a sigh. "Just my luck, Hollow Bastion."

Riku stared into the intensity of the rising falls for a moment, as his thought danced around in his heavy head. "Why is it I always have to end up back here?" Riku pondered aloud. He stood and gazed around him, rubbing his slightly sore head, images of bright yellow eyes flashing through his mind. "But how did I-"

Then, the memory struck him all too quickly and the pain in his head died altogether.

"Sora! He... We were both pulled into the black together. But then, shouldn't he be here too?"

Riku looked toward the castle looming in the distance. "Well, I guess there's only one way to find out."

...

Riku searched the castle from top to bottom, his steps never wavering, even in rooms where shadows lied and darkness encompassed all. Riku found his footsteps marching on automatic as a million memories flooded his head, memories he had tried very hard to forget. Memories of a different time, a time when the darkness had controlled him... a time when Riku had been weak. Riku shook his head trying to free him of those memories and continued on through the dark hallways, unaware of the raven hiding above in the shadows, watching his every step.

Riku never once saw Sora as he trekked though hallway after hallway and, after a while, it became apparent that Sora wasn't there and wasn't going to be. And so with each step, Riku's worry grew. Finally, Riku's search came to an upsetting conclusion as he arrived back at his starting point. "Where could you be Sora?" Riku whispered under his breath as he reluctantly headed for the entrance.

Suddenly, he heard the caw of a bird and ducked just in time as the raven flew over him, just inches away from digging its sharp claws into Riku's skull. Riku stumbled forward, catching himself on the cold stone floor, then he turned with a jolt, his eyes scanning for another attack from above, his senses back online and on high alert.

"Wh- what..." Riku spotted the raven as it flew off out of sight into the shadows. "I wonder what got into that bird?"

Riku turned once again to leave but stopped suddenly, giving a sigh. "I should have known." Then turned around to face the familiar darkness he had sensed. "What do you want?"

Then out of the shadows emerged Maleficent, her faithful raven perched formidably on her shoulder. Riku glared up at the tall form of his old adversary, as she flashed a malevolent smile at Riku.

"Well, isn't this quite a surprise. Dear, young Riku has returned to my castle once again. I hope for your sake you have come to amend your ways and join me once again."

Riku shook his head stiffly and replied, "Sorry to disappoint, but that's not happening. My time playing your puppet is over."

"Why, whatever do you mean."

Riku sighed. "I don't have time for this," he said and turned to leave.

"Ah, I can see your still foolishly loyal to Mickey and his lackeys. But, your timing is almost too perfect. You choosing to arrive, right when I planned to make my attack on their castle."

Riku stopped and slowly turned to face Maleficent once again. "Leave my friends alone, Maleficent. If you come near them I'll... " Riku summoned his Keyblade ready to strike.

"Ingrate. _How dare you speak that way to me!_"

Immediately a blast of green energy shot out at Riku. He blocked one, dispersing it, swerved to his left barely missing the second, then swung right destroying one just inches away from doing permanent damage to him. He ducked, dodging the fourth then did a one-handed cartwheel out of the way as one swerved in on his unguarded back, giving a quick swing through another as he landed and finally, turned on his heels and gave a quick slash through the remaining two energy balls.

Riku sensed Maleficent behind him, and dodged quickly to the left avoiding her swinging staff, then threw his Keyblade at the evil fairy. Maleficent moved to the side avoiding the fatal blow and stepped closer to Riku, unleashing a blast of thunder on him. Riku put up a reflect sphere around him at the same time his Keyblade came back around hitting Maleficent hard in her unguarded back.

His reflect blast shot out at Maleficent and she quickly teleported away. Riku caught his Key and, sensing her presence, turned around to where she stood, just a few feet away. He ran toward her, as she sent a blast of lightning spiraling at him that he carefully dodged as he ran, barely avoiding the fatal blasts of uncontainable energy. As he reached her he gave a large slash with Way to the Dawn, coming to a gentle stop directly behind her.

She grunted and then turned, shooting another blast of energy his way. Riku aimed his Keyblade straight in front of him and shouted, "Fire!" Then, obeying his orders, his Keyblade shot out a burst of flames, which struck Maleficent's and they diminished, counteracting each other. The second blast, Riku swung through, following the next, then the next. In a matter of seconds Riku had obliterated all of Maleficent's deadly projectiles and was facing Maleficent once again.

"My turn!" He yelled and quickly closed the distance between them. He gave a fast series of swings which she barely managed to block with her staff. Then he gave a swift uppercut with his blade to which she blocked with a hurried shield of darkness. She then swung at him, but he ducked and brought his Keyblade up above his head, her staff scraping harmlessly against it. Once her staff was no longer making contact with Riku's Key, he jumped up and kicked her hard with both feet, propelling her backward, doing a flip and landing agilely on his feet.

Meanwhile, Maleficent slammed hard into the wall, knocking the breath out of her, and leaving her gasping for air. Riku took advantage of this by giving a hard slash directly down at her. And while his Keyblade left a large scrape down the wall, Maleficent was gone, and he turned to the top of the stairs, where she stood panting from overexertion and pain.

"Running away already, it was just starting to get interesting."

Maleficent began summoning green energy around her staff.

"Have you still learned nothing,_ my dear Riku_," she hissed.

She shot the energy at him and he put up an aura shield to block it. While he did block it though, the energy spread around him and he instantly began to feel lightheaded. Fatigue overcame him, and his Keyblade dispersed, for he no longer had the strength to keep it summoned.

"Now then, I have you trapped in my power. You will fall into a deep sleep of which only I can awaken you from. This is the power I hold, the power to put out all light and turn it to darkness!"

Riku staggered overcome with sleep, unable to fight it. He fell to his knees and began to lose consciousness.

"You are weak aren't you, boy. You should never have given up your dark powers, you could have fought back against my hold. But this, this is where the light truly leads you."

"Your wrong!" Riku yelled, fighting sleep. "It's the darkness that makes you weak. And I don't need it anymore. I have a new strength now. And not the strength of the light, but the strength my friends give to me. And as long as I have them, I don't need the darkness or the light. Because my friends, they are my power!"

And with that, light surrounded him, feeding him strength to his weakened muscles, then he stood and with the last of his remaining strength shot out a blast of aura at Maleficent. Maleficent, unable to move as she struggled to keep her power going was struck full force and the energy collapsed around him.

Riku panted as strength returned to him once again. The lightheartedness left as quickly as it had come and Riku, taking a deep breath, stood and summoned his Keyblade once again. Maleficent, now desperate, unleashed a barrage of thunder at Riku, but he put up another reflectera, and the blast merely shot back at his enemy.

Maleficent teleported, dodging the blast, and appeared in front of Riku, swinging her staff at Riku. Riku knocked it aside with his Key and then swung around, striking Maleficent, and inflicting enough damage to end the battle.

Maleficent staggered and all but collapsed. Riku stared daggers at his beaten foe for a minute, then turned to leave... and that was when he noticed the bomb laying at his feet. With a blast of energy Riku had no time to dodge, Riku was thrown back from the explosion and landed hard on the stone floor. Riku made to stand but then felt strong arms grab him, yank him roughly to his feet, and pin his arms behind his back, making use of his Keyblade impossible.

Riku squirmed, attempting to break free of his captor, only to hear a familiar laugh. "Don't bother tryin' to get away pally, we've got you right where we want you."

Riku looked behind him to see Pete looming over him. "Pete!" Came Riku's shocked reaction that only managed to get another laugh from Pete.

"You idiot. You fell right into our trap," Pete said in a mocking tone.

"All right, fine, so you caught me." Riku said, no longer bothering to struggle, knowing it was in vain. "I don't see how that's going to do you two any good, Maleficent. I'm not cooperating."

Maleficent stalked closer and said in a hiss, "Silence!" Maleficent now leaned in close to Riku, saying in a harsh tone. " You truly believed you could escape me again. Well, it seems you were wrong, my dear Riku. For you see now I have you and very soon I will have your pathetic King's castle." She ran a finger down Riku's cheek, to which he flinched and pulled away, as best as he could considering Pete's strong hold. "I'm certain he will be willing to trade now that we hold something far more dear to him then some insignificant castle, don't you agree."

The realization hit Riku hard as Pete laughed an evil laugh. "That's very clever Maleficent, trading the kid for the castle, those bozos wouldn't dare turn our offer down with one of their 'friends' life on the line." Pete laughed again and Riku just stood rock-still his eyes on the floor, his jaw locked tight.

"Indeed. And then we shall destroy all who dare defy us and put out their lights forever. And who knows. Once there lights are no more perhaps you will reconsider my offer, Riku, and join us once again."

Now Riku, looked into her eyes, glaring daggers of hatred at her and said in a venom filled voice, "Never. Gonna. Happen."

Maleficent chuckled. "Well, we shall see. In time, I believe you will realize the graveness of your mistake. But for now, your usefulness is still within grasp."

Now, Maleficent stood and turned her attention to her lackey. "Now, Pete. I have some preparations to make, so I'm leaving Riku in your care, lock him up and make sure to put up a shield so he can't use his precious Keyblade to escape."

"Of course, Maleficent, you don't have nothing to worry about."

"I surely hope not," Maleficent said and though her voice was still gentle there was venom in her tone. "For if something happens I will hold _you_ responsible."

Riku could feel Pete shaking and Pete's grip tightening around Riku's arms causing them to hurt.

"Do we have an understanding?" Pete gulped loudly, now shaking even harder than before, but bobbing his head up and down.

"Yes, Maleficent. I-I understand. I'll take care of it," Pete said, his voice cracking with fear.

"Good."

Maleficent eyed Riku once more, as he stared daggers back at her, and then she departed, leaving her new prisoner and trembling lackey alone. Once she was fully out of sight, Riku felt Peter relaxing, as a sigh escaped through him. Riku smiled.

"Wow, I know Sora always said you were weak, but I had no idea you had become Maleficent's puppet."

After a second, Pete processed Riku's words and anger swelled inside him. Riku was suddenly pulled back, as Pete released his hold on Riku's left arm, but still holding his Keyblade arm, making it useless for Riku to use. Pete was now right in Riku's face, glaring hatred at him.

"I ain't nobodies puppet, see."

"You could have fooled me, the way you were shaking back there. She's using your fear of her to control you. Your just to stupid to figure it out."

Riku saw Pete's fist go up but refused to either flinch or pull away, a smug smile spread across his face.

"Now you done it, kid. Orders or not, I'm gonna' pummel ya' for that."

Just as the fist started to move, Pete and Riku heard a shout.

"Stop!" Pete's fist froze mid-swing and Pete turned to see who had shouted.

Riku saw the source of the voice was a young man with a scar on his face and a gunblade in his hands. Behind him was a young, vibrant girl, with a giant sherikun and cryptic grin.

"Let him go," the young man said in a calm, yet threatening voice.

"What's that?" Pete glared at the two and Riku felt Pete's grip tighten. Suddenly, recognition hit Pete and he laughed, finding humor in the tense situation.

"Oh it's you losers. Well if you want to save him so badly your gonna have to come over here and take him." Pete snapped his fingers and Heartless appeared, surrounding the two rescuers.

"Okay then," The girl said mischievously and disappeared into smoke. Pete looked around, then felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned to see the girl behind him.

"Surprise!" The girl yelled. Pete, angered, flew a fist at the girl, which she simply ducked, drawing her weapon as she did, and spun up, her shrieken hitting the formidable Pete. Pete stumbled, his grip loosening on Riku. Riku pulled back and kicked the already off-balance Pete hard in the gut, knocking him completely off his feet, crashing to the floor with a loud bang.

Riku turned to his rescuer and said, "Thanks I owe you one."

"Not a problem," came the cheery reply.

Finally, Pete managed to sit up enough to yell, "Don't let them escape!"

They all heard a rumble and saw the entrance doors closing. Leon swiped, destroying a Shadow, and then turned to his two companions. "Yuffie, we need to go, NOW!"

"Right," Yuffie yelled, as she and Riku headed for the door, destroying any heartless that stood in their way.

Pete who finally managed to stand, started to follow after them. "Heartless squad, stop them!" The Heartless moved in to block their path, but the three merely slashed through the threat, getting through the closing gates just in time, Riku even having to slide the rest of the way.

Once the gates had closed, Pete shook with blind fury. He looked to all the Heartless around him, all waiting for his orders. "What are you yahoos waitin' around for, after them!"

Instantly, the Heartless were gone disappearing from sight in their Doors to Darkness. Pete sighed, and then jumped when a cold, calculating voice arose behind him. "I wouldn't waste my time with that. They shall be long gone by now."

"Maleficent!" Pete croaked. "S-sorry Maleficent. Those mooks from town showed up and.."

"Don't bother explaining, your failure does not matter to me."

"R-really."

"Of course, I have grown accustomed to your uselessness."

"Ya have."

"Oh yes. And now I will give you an opportunity to redeem yourself to me."

"H-how do I do that."

"Patience, Pete. Your time will come. Now go assemble the Heartless. We will be paying Riku and his new-found friends a little visit."

Pete backed up quickly, happy to get away from Maleficent, who seemed to be taking this far too well.

"Oh and Pete." Pete froze, knowing that Maleficent's patience had reached an end and he was about to suffer a cruel punishment.

"This is your _last_ chance. Failure will not be tolerated. Do I make myself clear."

Pete nodded, despite Maleficent's back being turned and quickly fled, not taking anymore chances where Maleficent's patience was concerned.

Now Maleficent stood alone, her thoughts voicing into words. "You may have escaped me this time, but you cannot outrun your destiny. Your fate is still in my control. And it's time I remind you of that."

She turned to leave. "This time I will make you suffer. And you will flee to my side, my dear Riku."


	9. Watched

Chapter 8: Watched

Disclaimer: If any of you ever suspected this was mine, then you probably never realized what website you were on. Still, I don't own Kingdom Hearts or anything... soooo, yeah.

The room was deathly quiet. Kairi stared down at her feet, her thoughts clouded with worry. Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy just stood in shocked silence, the recent news turning them into nothing more than statues. Even Pluto was soundless as he lay on the ground, his paws covering his eyes. Finally, it was Mickey who broke the unsettling noiselessness in the Library as he cleared his tight throat.

"And so your certain that's everything that happened?" he asked.

Kairi looked him in the eye. "Yes. That's everything."

"Hmm," Mickey hummed, his thoughts wandering in his small head. "This is very bad. The darkness seems to have returned again and, at the very least, _tried_ to claim your island."

"And now Sora and Riku are who knows where," Donald added, clearly upset.

"What I don't get is why only Destiny Island was attacked," Jiminy said. "After all, no other stars have been going out, only Kairi's."

"Well, maybe it's because of those Organization XIII guys," Goofy said. "Why, they were always causing some kind of trouble."

"But then, how is that possible, we beat them all," Mickey pondered aloud. "How could they possibly be back?"

All of them gave a loud hum as they thought over this question, except Kairi who gave Pluto a few pats on the head.

"Well are we sure we beat them all," Donald supplied. "There were quite a few."

"Yeah," Goofy said. "There sure was. Though uh I've forgotten how many. Let's see there was 1, 2, 3, 4, uh..."

Donald turned to Goofy annoyed. "13."

Goofy chuckled. "Come on now, Donald. You can't trick me. I'm no fool. 13 doesn't come after 4."

"Oh brother," Donald mumbled as he rolled his eyes.

"Well none of us seem to know the answer just now, Your Majesty. But right now we should stay focused on what needs to be done. And who knows maybe it will come to us later down the line." Jiminy said. "Why it was Sora himself who taught me that you can't change the past, you just have to have faith in the future."

They all smiled at that, thinking about their missing friend and his ways of trust that often border-lined on oblivious. But, as Mickey noticed, with much regret, that Donald and Goofy seemed broken up and unsettled. They felt a deep responsibility to Sora and shared an unbreakable connection. Without him there it felt to them like a piece of them was gone and neither of them knew how to repair the hole that Sora had left.

"Well, that does sound just like Sora, Jiminy," Kairi said, her voice soft and her eyes drifting between the two friends. "Foolishly running into trouble without thinking, never worrying about the consequences... and always believing in his heart that everything would be fine, no matter what. Riku could never understand that about him, but I always liked that about Sora."

Donald and Goofy looked up at Kairi, who gave them a sympathetic smile.

"But lately, he's been acting pretty strange. Not his usual cheerful self. And it's pretty clear to me why."

"Why?" Donald and Goofy both asked.

"Because, he's been missing you two just as much as it seems you have."

Donald and Goofy gave Kairi a wain smile which she returned with a much stronger one. Mickey also smiled to himself and then, seeing his friends had fully recovered, returned to the problem at hand.

"Well, I agree with Sora, then. How the Organization is back, well, that's not important right now. Right now Sora and Riku's safety is our top priority," Mickey said, authority ringing in his voice.

"Well if Kairi did seal the Keyhole, then the islands should be back to normal, right?" Donald said.

"Right," Goofy said. "And then Sora and Riku should be waitin' there for us."

"Umhm." Kairi hummed, nodding her head in agreement. "But it's possible those Organization members are still there. And I know those two can handle themselves, but, they haven't been in a fight in a long time and from what I remember those Organization members can be quite crafty."

"Then what are we waiting for!" Donald shouted, waving his staff above him. "Let's go!"

"Come along, Kairi, there's no time to waste," Mickey said, with much haste in his voice, as the others headed for the doors.

"Okay," Kairi said standing, but then suddenly she felt a strange feeling come over her, much like before, but far stronger. Her head pounding, she put her hands up to her ears to try and stop the pain. She thought she heard a shout muted in the distance, but the ache distracted her so bad she couldn't get her befuddled mind to make sense of it. Then, everything turned white.

...

In the next instant she was someone else. She was now the girl in the room of white. She was drawing something, but Kairi was unsure what exactly it was. She was sad like before, but now Kairi heard her thoughts. _Just a few more days. I have until then to tell him. But how can I tell him he's like me. How can I possibly tell him he's nothing._

_ I don't know_, thought Kairi, feeling the sadness of this declaration. _I'm sorry, I don't know how to help you. _As everything began to turn white, Kairi felt her urgency, her haste. _There just wasn't enough time. Only a few days left before it was all too late. And then time ran out for both of us. What was I supposed to do once he was gone, and I'm left... all alone again?_

_ I don't know,_ Kairi thought as the world faded around her and everything turned to light once again. _I'm sorry , I don't know..._

…

"Kairi," the word echoed in her head, but it sounded so far away. She felt the pain in her head return once again and wondered how she could hurt this bad when only moments ago she had felt no pain at all. Then she felt the tears in her eyes and remembered that she had felt pain there in that room. It had just been a different kind.

Something wet and slobbery on Kairi's cheek snapped her back into reality. She heard a familiar bark and opened her eyes to see Pluto, who gave a whine upon seeing Kairi waking. Kairi sat up a little, very slowly and the pounding subsided a little.

"Kairi." Kairi jumped upon hearing the voice and saw that the others were crowded around her with looks ranging from worry to panic.

"Are you alright?" Mickey, the one who had talked before, said.

"Yes, I'm fine. My head just started hurting."

"You passed out," Donald said.

"And you kept whispering about it being 'too late' or something like that," Goofy added.

"I did?" Kairi said, quite surprised.

"Yep," Mickey replied. "Gosh Kairi you really gave us all a scare."

Goofy gave Kairi a hand and helped her to her feet.

"Thank you," Kairi said.

"Don't mention it," Goofy replied, his voice low and reassuring.

Then Kairi turned to the others. "I'm very sorry I upset you all."

Jiminy hopped onto her shoulder. "Well, we're just concerned about you. Are you tired or something, Kairi?"

"Or maybe your still drained from everything that happened on the island," Donald offered.

"Please tell us what's wrong Kairi, maybe we can help," Mickey begged, but patiently, in a very soothing voice.

Kairi took a deep breath and then let it all go. "Well, lately I've been getting these visions. I didn't tell Riku or Sora because I didn't want to worry them. At first, it was rare for me to get them, but there's been more and more. And just now it was the strongest it's ever been."

"You don't say." Jiminy said thoughtfully.

"What are these visions of, exactly, Kairi?" asked Mickey.

"Namine. They're always of Namine. But the thing is I usually only _see_ Namine. But this time I _felt_ her, I heard her thoughts and I could tell she was sad and... hurried, I guess? Is that the right word? It seemed like.. she was running out of time for something and if she didn't do it, then..." Kairi shook her head.

"Hmm, this is very troubling," Mickey said. "When we get back we will have to look more into it. For now, I'm gonna have to ask you to please remain here. I'm not sure what exactly we're going to encounter and with this being such an unpredictable situation I'm afraid it might... complicate things. I'm very sorry."

Kairi shook her head. "Don't be. I understand. I can do what I can to help here. You go on ahead, Sora and Riku need you."

Donald and Goofy reluctantly nodded, they could come up with no other alternative and it was their duty to follow their king. Still neither of them liked the idea of leaving Kairi after what just happened.

Donald and Goofy did a quick salute to Kairi, and Donald said, "Don't you worry, Kairi. Were use to protecting Sora and bailing him out of his messes."

"Yeah, we're also pretty used to getting sucked up into them, too," Goofy added. Kairi giggled a little.

"So no matter what, we'll bring them back, and that's a promise."

Kairi smiled and gave them a heartfelt thank you, before the two turned on their heels and exited the room. Now Mickey turned to Jiminy. "Jiminy, please inform Queen Minnie of our departure and tell her we should be back very soon."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Jiminy said with a bow.

"And, uh, please tell her I'm sorry for running off like this."

"I'm sure she'll understand, Your Majesty," Jiminy said softly, hearing the regret in his King's voice.

Mickey gave a sad nod and then turned to Kairi. "Will you be alright, Kairi?'

Kairi gave a quick, petite curtsy and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Mickey gave a small smile, then reluctantly turned to leave.

"Your Majesty," Kairi called.

Mickey quickly turned back to her.

"Yes?"

"Just... please be careful."

Mickey gave a small nod and a soft look before he turned to leave once again.

…

Mickey, with Donald and Goofy close behind approached the doors to the Gummi Hanger. His thoughts were full, full of questions without any answer, full of worries and doubts, full of memories he couldn't quite forget no matter how hard he tried. He looked back at the castle of which he lived and for just a moment felt that something wasn't right, almost like invisible eyes were staring him down. He impulsively looked around him, not sure what he was expecting to see. Then, passing it off as nothing more than jitters and nerves, he shook his head, losing the feeling altogether. Then he turned to his two most trusted friends and asked it they were ready. They nodded and saluted respectfully to him, and then Mickey opened the doors and they passed through, and just like that they were gone and yet another adventure to save their friends had begun.

But what they didn't know is that the second the doors closed behind them, a figure in black emerged from the shadows. He was looking at the now closed doors of the Gummi Hanger.

"Perfect," the figure said. "Right on schedule."

Then his eyes drifted away from the doors and onto the castle itself, trained on a single spot. "Now for phase two."

Within the walls of the castle, Kairi sat and stared at nothing, as Jiminy paced and Pluto slept. She was thinking of Namine and of Sora and the connections the two might somehow share. It was easier to think of that then of her friends mission.

Suddenly though, all thought evaporated as Kairi felt a chill run up her spin. She shuddered then looked around her, but the feeling was gone. She told herself it had been nothing, just her overactive imagination, and managed to cast the feeling off. But it had been there, and there was no denying that, for just a moment, she had felt strange, almost like... like she was being watched.

A/N: Thanks to God for helping me to finally finish a chapter in a time frame of less than six months. And thanks to all of you readers who are enjoying this book as much as I am, and for patiently awaiting my chapters, because I know how slow I am. And if your not patient, then... I'm sorry. Finally, thank you Square Enix and Disney for riding the same elevator one day. My life wouldn't be the same.


	10. Struggle

Chapter 9: Struggle

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine and all characters and worlds belong to Square Enix and Disney, respectively. **

"Hey, you okay?"

Sora heard the voice but was unsure how to respond to it. His throat felt tight and his head felt heavy as lead, a strange aching pounding in the back of his mind, as thought became useless and intense pressure surged through his broken brain.

Sora slowly blinked open his eyes, squinting as the light harshly attacked his unguarded pupils. _Is this a dream? _he thought. Then a shadow darkened over his face. Startled, he jumped up with a shout, his head spinning slightly from this action. Quickly, Sora turned to the source of the shadow, clasping his fast beating heart. There before him stood Hayner, who looked down at him with equal mixes of confusion and curiosity.

"Hayner!" Sora squeaked, his throat still in a knot, glad to see his old friend again. He tried to stand but fatigue overcame him and Hayner had to catch Sora's arm to keep him from falling to the floor.

"Whoa, easy does it, Sora. You look like you've been through a number. Try not to overdue it man," he said patting his friend's shoulder.

"'Kay," Sora responded weakly, but lighthearted, glad to feel his body recovering as his throat loosened its death grip and his head's ache dulled. Once his body was back to its normal, healthy self, more or less, Sora gazed around him, becoming aware of his surroundings. He was in the "Usual Spot", Hayner and friend's favorite hide-out. All at once, Sora was filled with an overwhelming sense of peace, feeling at home in that small rundown corner of the back alley and, for a moment, he tasted a salty-sweet sensation that made his whole mouth tingle.

"Sora!"

Sora quickly looked back at Hayner, and seeing the frustrated look on his friend's face, realized that he hadn't been listening.

"Huh-what?" Sora said quietly, distracted by the pleasant tingling that still embraced his overwhelmed taste buds.

Hayner sighed, then continued, slower this time. "I said, how did you end up here?"

"Ohhh," Sora responded, finally understanding what his friend was asking of him, "Well you see..." Sora stopped, suddenly realizing he didn't know how to finish the sentence. For some bizarre reason, his mind was drawing a blank. That aching feeling returned, making his whole head pound. _How____did__ he get here? _

"Yeah," Hayner said, slightly irritated.

"Well, umm..." Sora drifted off into uncomfortable silence, feeling Hayner's glare on him, unsure of how to finish the sentence.

"Hayyyynnnnner!" called a familiar voice from outside. Hayner and Sora turned to see Olette walk in, smiling ear to ear, with a bag hanging loosely in her hands. "I got the..." Her voice drifted off upon spotting Sora and the bag hit the floor with a soft thud, momentarily forgotten.

"Sora, your here!" she said excitedly, giving him a friendly hug. Sora laughed and returned the hug, unaware that the strange aching had drifted from his mind.

"It's good to see you, Olette," Sora said cheerily, as the two pulled apart. Meanwhile Hayner went to retrieve the discarded bag off the floor, but before he could, Pence came running in and, not noticing the bag laying there, stepped on it, to which Hayner let out a groan.

"Pence!" he exclaimed. But Pence only half heard him as his attention was on Sora.

"Oh, sorry Hayner," he quickly responded, not even bothering to look at Hayner as he did. "Hey Sora," he said as he joined the two, leaving Hayner to rage for a moment alone.

"Hey Pence, long time no see," Sora said, giving his chubby friend a high five.

"Yeah, it's been way too long," Pence replied with a smile. "Oh, hey, did you ever find Kairi?"

Though he tried to sound casual, Sora could hear the edge of worry in his friend's voice. And from beside him, Olette was not quite able to stifle the look of fear on her face. Sora felt a pang of guilt, thinking of all the time that had passed since returning to the island, he wondered if they had been worrying about this the whole time.

"Yeah, we did," He said with forced cheer, not wanting his friends to worry anymore then they already had. "She was being held in this castle, but luckily some friends helped free her. We headed back to the islands and... we've been there ever since."

"Phew, that's a relief," Pence said as Olette let out a sigh she didn't even realize she had been holding in. Even Hayner looked relieved as he fumed from his corner.

"I'm so glad she's safe," Olette breathed, the fear she'd been holding in for months, finally dissolving from within her.

Sora looked down, before hesitantly adding. "Um, sorry I didn't come sooner. I hope I didn't cause you guys to suffer any."

Olette and Pence exchanged a glance. "Sora," Olette said, sympathetically, shaking her head and putting a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look at her with pain-filled eyes. "You have nothing to apologize for."

Sora's face immediately softened. "Really?" he ventured slowly, shrinking from her gaze, almost afraid of the answer.

"Of course," Olette said with soft tenderness, glad to see Sora standing a little taller with every word . "It's not your fault any of this happened, so you don't have to take the guilt for it."

"Yeah," Pence added, emphatically. "And, anyways, you came, so stop stressing."

Sora gave them both a wain smile, feeling the guilt subsiding. "Thanks guys," he practically whispered, his eyes drifting between the two friends, filed with joy, knowing he was forgiven. And just like that the guilt was gone and all was good again. Until a new thought struck him. _If he was here, could Riku and Kairi have left the island as well? And if they did, could they be here, too? Or could they have ended up somewhere else? _The familiar ache returned and Sora struggled from within, fighting for control of his memories, that just didn't seem to want to give.

"Aw great!" Hayner exclaimed, forcing Sora out of his inner-struggle, as he followed the example of his friends and finally, took stock of his clearly upset friend. He was glaring over at them, a bag of pretzels in his hands.

Olette gasped and raced over, taking the crumpled bag from Hayner's hands. "Oh no, the pretzels!" she cried, noticing through inspection that they were now nothing but crumbs. "I'm sorry Hayner, I forgot all about them."

Hayner sighed deeply. "Well there goes our hard-earned money down the drain."

Sora was confused and turned to Pence to ask, "Pretzels?"

"Yep. See the beach is closed this summer and me and Hayner and Olette always go down there every year. But since we can't _this_ year, Hayner got this great idea to use our money from summer jobs to buy our favorite snack we always have when we're down there. He said it was the second best thing to the beach itself." They both turned to see Olette attempting to comfort her downtrodden friend.

"Right," Sora said absentmindedly, distracted by a weird buzzing in his head as he fought to remember the events of the previous day. "But I thought watermelon was your favorite."

"Yeah but those things are really expensive," Pence replied then turned to Sora startled. "Wait, how did you know that?"

"Know what?" Sora asked confused, the buzzing slowly fading and the ache with it.

"About watermelon being our favorite," Pence replied.

Now Sora turned to face his friend, startled. "You told me."

"No I didn't."

Sora frowned, and crossed his arms, suddenly not sure how he knew that either. He hummed thoughtfully to himself as he pondered this knowledge. The words had just slipped out without him realizing. He wasn't even sure why he had said it.

Pence, seeing Sora's face, quickly tried to recover his friend's mood. "But, uh, clearly one of us did, otherwise how would you know that, right?"

Sora nodded, still feeling off about not remembering the things he should. And then, Sora being Sora, immediately dismissed the feeling altogether. "Yeah, your right. I probably heard it from Olette or something."

"Yeah, that's probably it," Pence agreed. Then he dramatically added. "Ooooor..." Pence paused mysteriously and Sora turned to him, suspiciously. "Maybe you heard it from... HAYNER!"

Sora was silent for a moment his eyes squinted in concentration. Then Sora exploded with laughter, the joke finally sinking in. Pence smiled at him with a goofy, but satisfied, grin on his face, chuckling a little himself, as Sora's infectious laughter continued on. But suddenly, all laughter from both stopped, as Hayner popped up between them, giving his chubby friend a death glare.

"Pence, you ruined our pretzel-y goodness! Now what are we supposed to do!" He growled. Pence was silent for a moment deciding what was best to do in this situation, before he simply shrugged, knowing Hayner was just blowing off steam. But Hayner seemed to have more steam to spare, as his eyes narrowed. "You ruined our one chance to remember our times at the beach and all you can do is_**shrug**_?!"

Pence shrugged again and Hayner looked about ready to strangle his friend. Sora decided it was time to step in before things could get any worse. "Umm, maybe I could get you guys some pretzels," Sora offered with a shrug.

They all turned to look at him, Hayner's eyes already lighting up at the mere thought of pretzels. But Olette, feeling guilty, replied, "Oh Sora, you don't have to do that. We'd feel bad taking your money like that."

"I wouldn't," Hayner said and Olette gave him a look.

"Well _most_ of us would feel bad about it," she corrected.

"I-It's alright," Sora said, waving his hands up and down in gesture. "It'd be my pleasure."

Olette still feeling uncomfortable about it, rubbed her arm in thought. "Wellll-"

"Sweet!" Hayner exclaimed giving Sora a hard pat on the back, that nearly sent Sora sprawling. "Thanks man!"

"Now hold on Hayner," Olette said, putting her hands to her hips and giving him a scolding look. "We never agreed to-"

She was interrupted, however, as Hayner waved a hand halfheartedly at her and said, "Yeah, yeah. Come on Olette, Sora's offering. He doesn't mind. Right Sora?"

Sora nodded. "It's really okay Olette, it'll be my treat... and my apology for waiting so long to come see you," he said the last part sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck and giving her an apologetic smile.

Olette sighed, knowing she was beat. Then smiled, running a hand through her hair. "All right then, I suppose if you really want to, we can't stop you. Thank you Sora."

Now Pence jumped in. "Yeah, thanks a ton. It really means a lot to us. Especially Hayner. He needs some cheering up. He's been all mopey and depressed ever since he lost the struggle tournament to Seifer."

Now Hayner was glaring at Pence once again. "I have not."

"Have too," Pence retorted.

"Shut up, Pence!" Hayner turned away from his friend, angry. And the moment he did, Sora exploded with laughter. This however seemed to reset Hayner's temper, and set it in overdrive.

"And what's so funny?!" he said, making a face that was meant to discourage Sora from his outburst, but instead heightened it. Soon, Olette and Pence joined in, the three laughing so hard they had to hold their stomachs to keep from falling over. Hayner, though, found no humor in the situation and fumed as their laughter grew more and more intense. Finally, the contagious sound of their laughter was too much for even Hayner and he found himself laughing too.

The four friends continued on like that for awhile, laughing as tears steamed down their faces and their stomachs cramped, thankful, that for just a moment, they could be together like this, sharing in each others company and allowing their lives to become that much fuller, as there friendship found a lasting place in their hearts.

Sora briefly thought of Kairi and Riku but decided that for now he should remain in Twilight Town, at least until he could remember how he got there. For all he knew his friends were there, too. Yes, he needed to stay there, for now. And for some strange reason Sora felt like he needed to stay. He would tell Hayner and the others about it later, maybe between the four of them they could figure out what to do. And for some strange reason Sora felt like he needed to stay.

…

As the four walked side by side through town, Sora got the feeling that if they ever tried, his friends could walk the streets of Twilight Town blindfolded. They seemed to know every nook and cranny, every shortcut, every person they passed on their way to the Tram Common, who gave them each a smile and a wave as they passed. In a way, Sora felt like_ he_ might be able walk the streets blindfolded. This place had a calming nature about it, that made Sora feel at peace when he was there. It was like home away from home to him. Sora realized that it was no so far fetched that this town had felt familiar to him when he had first awoken there back when he had been on his journey with Donald and Goofy, the place had a magical way of making you feel you belonged, like this place was your home and always had been, you just never bothered to realize it before. But, then again, that could have been from Roxas.

At the thought of Roxas, Sora's head span and it was all he could do to keep standing upright. As he walked on, waiting for his head to clear, he failed to notice the tall blond jumping into his path, holding a Struggle bat in his hands, eyes watching an object above him. Seeing the danger, Olette shouted to her friend, "Sora, watch out!" But was unsuccessful of warning her friend as he had already collided with the tall boy knocking both of them to the ground.

Sora, still in shock and head still spinning slightly, could only stare at the figure he had just knocked over, who he eventually recognized as none other then the Head of the Disciplinary Committee himself. Seifer looked over at Sora with a glare and tried to push the nuisance off of him, who just continued to stare at him blankly.

"Hey, get off, loser! YOUR GONNA MESS ME UP!" he shouted, finally managing to push Sora off of him. Just as the two stood, however, a ball bounced down beside them, coming to gentle stop at Sora's feet. The crowd of people, who Sora just noticed had gathered, let out a collective sigh of disappointment and then went on their way, while the girl who ran the Grandstander street show, shook her head in utter dissatisfaction at the display.

Sora picked up the ball and went to hand it to Seifer who stood frozen on the spot. "Uhh, sorry Seifer, I didn't see you there," Sora said sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, feeling the tension flowing off from Seifer in droves. Seifer just stood there like a statue, his eyes covered by the shadow from his cap, his mouth clenched in a straight line.

"Seifer?" Sora said, confused, waving a hand in front of the bully's eyes, and getting no response. Sora had never seen Seifer like this before, but having dealt with the teen in the past knew it probably wouldn't end well. Not wanting to make the situation worse, Sora simply set the ball at Seifer's feet, giving another docile "sorry", before backing slowly away toward his frozen friends, hoping the problem was resolved and he and his friends were free to go get some pretzels. Unfortunately for Sora, he had forgotten that with Seifer problems, trouble had its accomplices. "Hey, you can't do that to Seifer, y'know!" Sora cringed upon hearing the voice behind him. And in seconds, Sora found himself surrounded by Seifer's gang, Rai, Fuu, and Vivi.

"You thought you could just knock him down and break his concentration. Well now Seifer's gonna break you and the Grandstander record, y'know," Rai said, angrily.

"Traitor," came Fuu's melancholy reply, as usual, while Vivi merely gave Sora a glare with his beady yellow eyes.

"I wasn't trying to knock him down, I just tripped into him, honest," Sora replied innocently, trying his best to quell their anger and make light of the situation. "And anyway he jumped in front of me. So we were both kinda to blame, y'know," he added with a shrug and a smile.

Hayner immediately face-palmed and groaned at his friend's stupidity, while Olette and Pence let out loud sighs. _So much for pretzels_, they all thought in unison.

"What'd you say," came Seifer's angry reply, and Sora looked past Rai to see that Seifer was slowly turning his head to look at Sora.

"Uhm," Sora said, confused on what he had done to anger the teen. "I just said that we both just got into one anothers way so it was really no ones fault, right?"

"No one's fault,"he said in a quiet, but deadly tone, as he slowly approached the Keyblader.

"Now your in for it," Rai said. "Seifer's gonna make ya pay, y'know."

"Look I don't want a fight," Sora said calmly, not in the mood to deal with Seifer.

"What's the matter?" Seifer asked now just inches from Sora. "You afraid you'll lose."

Sora just kept his mouth shut, an angered look forming on his face as Seifer continued. "I see. Your okay with messing me up while my back is turned, but your afraid to face me in a real fight. Should have known you'd wimp out, your just a little coward."

Hayner had heard enough and instantly jumped to Sora's side, literally, as he pushed his way past Seifer's silent trio, and put an arm around Sora's shoulders. "Bring it on Seifer, Sora's not afraid of you!"

Sora turned to his friend in shock. "What are you doing?" he whispered.

"What's it look like I'm doing. I'm not letting this jerk, badmouth my friend," he replied, purposely loud enough for Seifer to hear.

Sora, knowing all to well Hayner's ability to create trouble for him and his friends, tried his best to console his hot-headed friend. "Uhh, no it's really okay, Hayner. I can take care of this," Sora whispered, removing Hayner's arm from his shoulder and pushing him away from Seifer as best as he could. "Let's just go."

Seifer smirked as Sora pushed Hayner away from them and back towards his friends, coldly joking, "See, I told you he was a coward, running off to his friends like a chicken-wuss."

This got a laugh from Seifer's flunkies and caused Hayner to lose all sense of reason, as he quickly removed himself from Sora's hold and then dragged Sora back over to the group of bullies by the arm, grumbling loudly as he stomped his way over.

"That's it, Seifer," Hayner said standing in front of his nemesis, their faces inches from touching as they glared daggers at one another. "Sora challenges you to a Struggle match!"

"I do?" Sora said, meekly.

"And he's gonna kick your butt." Hayner continued ignoring his friend. "And when he wins you have to tell the whole town that your a loser that doesn't know his way around a Struggle bat."

"Is that all, blonde?" Seifer said, challengingly.

"No, then your gonna have to give Sora your Struggle trophy and belt," Hayner said with a mischievous smile.

"He is?" Sora asked, his voice even quieter than before.

"All right, you've got yourselves a bet," Seifer said, shaking Hayner's hand. "And when you lose, blonde, you have to wear a dress for one whole week." Seifer noticed, with satisfaction, that Hayner's eyebrows narrowed even more than before. He smirked before continuing."And spiky over there," pointing to the flustered Sora , "will have to hand over his little key thing, which I will keep as a personal trophy of his defeat."

"W-What?!" Sora asked in shock, not liking where this was going. But before he could disagree, Hayner butted in once again. "Done." Hayner said with a victorious smirk. Sora could only gap at his friend, as he shook hands with his now future opponent.

"See you in an hour, wuss. Hope you bring your A-game, I want to savor beating you to a pulp," he said as he pushed his way past Sora, his crowd of followers close behind.

"Oh yeah, Seifer's gonna pound ya into dust, y'know," Rai called, then ran to catch up with idol.

"Cakewalk," Fuu called over her shoulder as well, before falling into step behind Rai.

Sora could only stare in disbelief at the retreating backs of his tormentors, wondering how things could have gone so wrong. Pence and Olette both ran up to him and began trying to console their frazzled friend, but Sora was in too much shock to comprehend their soothing words. He quickly snapped back into reality, as once again a familiar arm flung across his shoulders.

"We sure showed them," Hayner said triumphantly, smiling ear to ear at his delusional victory. Sora merely gave Hayner a distraught look, which was completely lost on his gleeful friend, then looked off into the distance. As Hayner reveled in his new-found power, both Sora, Pence, and Olette were busy pondering how exactly they could go about silencing their big-mouthed friend with a role of duct tape.

…

The gates to the Old Mansion were still closed.

This was the first thing Roxas noticed as he approached. _Sora hasn't arrived yet_, Roxas thought to himself. He realized, that that could be both a good thing or a bad thing. Roxas, for the moment, was still pondering over which it was.

Roxas' gaze drifted to the second floor window of the mansion as he came to a stop at the gates. His stare lingered for a moment as he spotted a movement from within. To most people that movement would seem like nothing more than a curtain flapping in the wind, but Roxas knew better.

He summoned his Keyblade and aimed it at the lock on the gate.

…

Sora was still pondering how exactly he had gotten roped into the mess an hour later, as he stood in the Sandlot's Struggle Arena, a bat in hand and his opponent obnoxiously smirking a few feet away. Deafening cheers could be heard all around him, as people from all over had gathered to watch the makeshift match. But Sora was still pretty sure he could make out Hayner, Pence, and Olette's distinct voices, shouting above the crowd of gathered residence. Sora smiled to himself, glad his friends were there, even if one of them had dragged him into this mess.

"And what are you smiling about, loser," Seifer taunted, snapping Sora back to the moment.

"None of your business," Sora replied, coldly, taking his signature stance. His opponent did the same, as the Struggle Promoter stepped up onto the arena and began his habitual speech, "All right sports fan, you know the drill. Today's match is between newcomer Sora and the Head of the Disciplinary Committee himself, Seifer."

As the promoter continued, Seifer chuckled cruelly to himself than called over to Sora in his most taunting tone, "You won't be smiling once that key is mine, loser."

Sora's grip tightened on his makeshift bat, as the promoter's speech came to a close. "And so without further ado, Leeeet's-"

"**STRUGGLE!**" the crowd finished for him and the match officially began.

The two opponent's charged each other, their bats clashing together with a dull thud. The two quickly flew into one another in a ferocious onslaught, their bats clashing again and again, as they hit then countered, blocked then attacked, while cheers deafened the two competitors.

Seifer swung his bat to Sora's side and his opponent parried the blow, a buzz almost immediately going through him. Sora pushed the weapon away and swung toward his opponent who stepped out of range, with a laugh, holding his bat out in front of him.

"Come on, quit playing around and fight."

Sora took his stance, then advanced swiftly, knocking the bat out of the way and going in for the hit, but Sora was slow today, and Seifer was able to block it at the last second.

As the battle continued, Sora was having more and more difficulty focusing, the buzzing almost blinding him to his opponent's attacks and with each hit of the bat Sora felt his strength diminishing. As of yet, the two had yet to lose a point, but that wouldn't last for long.

At his best, Sora was Seifer's equal, blocking each hit thrown his way, thrusting his bat forward at the needed times, but Sora was off today, and Seifer could tell. Sora was already panting while Seifer had energy to spare. He was slow and his attacks were weaker then normal, making it impossible to get an edge on his opponent.

Seifer, however, seemed to be at his best, almost playing with his opponent, jumping around him, hitting him at odd, hard to block angles, and smiling ear to ear all the time. In his mind, this battle was over and as the two circled each other for the last time, only seconds on the clock, they both knew time was running out and the end game was here.

Sora's grip on the bat was so tight his knuckles had gone white and the bat shock slightly. If he was going to win, he had to do something unexpected. Seifer, confidence slapped across his face, dove toward Sora yelling one of his signature lines. "Isn't this Romantic?!" Sora dodge rolled out of the way of the incoming bully, causing Seifer to come to a bumpy and uncoordinated stop. Meanwhile, Sora pulled out of the roll and threw his bat at his opponent with his infamous Strike Raid. The cheers exploded even louder, as Seifer easily deflected the bat sending it flying. Not only was Seifer unharmed but now his opponent was empty-handed.

But this didn't seem to faze Sora as he charged his opponent. For a second, Hayner, Pence, and Olette were afraid Sora was going to resort to using his Keyblade, which was against the rules. Even Seifer was momentarily frozen, as confusion overwhelmed him. _What is this idiot thinking?_ Seifer wondered seeing the charging teen. Just as Sora got in range, Seifer recovered and swung his bat at his enemy with all his strength. But he stuck air, as Sora had gone into an expertly timed dodge roll, flowing under the advancing attack. Time seemed to still as Seifer realized the error he had made. By choosing to attack his defenseless opponent, he had opened himself up to an attack. As Seifer's swing continued onward, Sora emerged from the roll and reached out and grabbed his bat as it finished its plummet to the ground below, after being launched into the air by Seifer's bat. Sora expertly swung his weapon straight into his adversary. Orbs exploded outward scattering around the arena and a soundless crowd watched Seifer plummet to the hard ground below.

For a few endless seconds Sora panted as the crowd remained motionless and silent. Then the timer for the match buzzed and the announcer needlessly called, "The winner of the Struggle match is Sora!"

With this, the crowd recovered from its shock and exploded into deafening cheers, as the promoter added, "And Seifer put up a great fight, too." Seifer was still sulking on the floor as Sora's shadow fell over him and he looked up. Sora reached out a friendly hand to help his fallen opponent up, but Seifer being too stubborn, stood up on his own. Sora lowered his hand and said in a friendly tone, "Thanks for the great match, it was a lot of fun. And don't worry about the whole bet thing, Hayner just likes to run his mouth sometimes."

Seifer merely scoffed in reply and turned his back on his conqueror, skulking away. Sora shrugged, use to Seifer's attitude, then turned to see his friends running up to him. Hayner slammed his hand into Sora's back as he excitedly cheered, "Way to go champ. I knew you could do it."

"Thanks," Sora said, rubbing his now sore back.

"You were terrific," Olette exclaimed.

"Yeah, you looked like a true pro out there," Pence added.

Sora smiled and sheepishly replied, "It was really nothing."

"Hey, loser!"

They all turned, surprised to see Seifer approaching them with champion belt and trophy in hand. When he reached Sora he thrust the objects toward the Keybearer. "Here!" he said, with an emotionless tone.

Sora tried to refuse the commanding teen. "No, it's really okay, you don't have to-"

But he was interrupted as the trophy was forced into his arms and the belt was handed to a dazed Pence.

"I always keep my promises," was all he said as he walked off, leaving behind a very confused group of friends. For a second the four were silent as they watched the teenager walk off, thinking highly of their once cruel opponent, until Hayner exclaimed, "That cheater! What about the other part of our deal? He never admitted to Sora being better than him! That rotten punk, _he has no respect for the rules_!"

Sora put a hand on his shoulder, stifling Hayner's rant. "It's okay, Hayner. He gave me the belt and trophy, that's really enough. And it really says a lot for his character."

"Oh it says a lot about his character, all right," Hayner grumbled before following his friends off-stage.

Sora tucked the trophy under his arm, before turning to his friends, "Now come on, guys. Let's go get those pretzels!"

**A/N: Hey everyone. I'm sorry it's been such a long wait for this, but I've been super busy with other things. I really can't apologize enough for taking so long, but I added two chapters this time to make up for it... hopefully. I also hope to rededicate myself to this project, in between my other non-fanfiction things. My goal is to get a chapter out every couple of weeks or so, sooo... fingers crossed. I do want to reassure everyone that I have every intention of finishing this, I just have some bigger goals right now. But I will keep at it and get it out in the most orderly fashion I can and still making it the best I can.**

**Anyways, this chapter was tons of fun to write and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as me. I had some difficulty getting into the heads of the Twilight Town gang and so I hope I pulled them off right. And if Sora felt a little off in this chapter it _was_ intentional. Sora's not feeling much like himself lately but I did my best to still keep that Sora-ness that he always has. After all, Sora will _always_ be Sora.**

**So anyways, love you guys and thanks for following and reviewing, cause that means the world to me. Seriously it does. I just got internet here so I've been enjoying your kind words and they are what really pushed me to get this done as soon as possible. Again, sorry it was still such a long wait. And yes I realize that this was a really long note, but a necessary one. God bless.**


	11. Nobodies

Chapter 10: Nobodies

**Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine and all characters and worlds belong to Square Enix and Disney, respectively. **

"I was expecting you, Roxas."

Roxas closed the door behind him as he stared at the girl in the white dress. She was bent over her white table, drawing, as usual, and even as she addressed him, she never once looked up from her picture.

_She usually at least looks at me when we talk_, he thought. _ Is she really that busy, that she can't spare a second. He must really be giving her a run for her money. _Roxas took the seat opposite her and removed his hood, getting a better look at her. Even in the all white room, her pale form stood out, her features distinct, but delicate. It had been so long since he'd seen her last, he'd forgotten how amazing she looked. He was glad she hadn't changed any, she was perfect as she was. Roxas was surprised at his thought process. Usually his emotions were easy to contain, but around Namine...

Namine looked up and noticed him staring at her. "Roxas?"

Roxas was startled back into the moment and he replied with forced composure. "Yes, Namine."

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

Roxas prayed he wasn't blushing. "No, I-I... was just wondering how you knew it was me and not Sora."

Namine smiled. "Well you two are a lot alike, but your not the same person."

Roxas did his best to ignore that comment before continuing. "Weren't you expecting Sora."

"No, I figured he wouldn't come. The memory flow is messing with his head, making him forget things he shouldn't. Making him remember things he'd be better off forgetting." Namine's voice got quiet as she said this, her eyes filling with guilt. Roxas hated that look on her. He wanted nothing more than to wipe it away, forever. But he was unsure what to say, so instead he stayed silent.

After a moment, Namine composed herself and continued. "I'll send Axel to retrieve him. He shouldn't have any problem getting him to come." She paused, and looked deep into Roxas' eyes, making him shift uncomfortably in his chair. "Unless... you'd like to."

Roxas frowned. "I'd... better not. I'm not supposed to expose myself so easily."

Roxas was silent for a moment, working up the courage to ask the question that had bugging him for days.

"Namine. What... what's gonna happen to Sora?" Namine flinched at Roxas' question. Sensing her hesitation, he added. "No one will tell me the truth. I hoped you would."

Namine looked down. "I... I wish I could say for sure. There are so many things that could go wrong. The process is not without it's risks." She sighed. "The results could be anything. I'm just... hopeful, I guess."

Roxas stared intently at Namine. "Something's wrong," he said matter-of-factly.

"Well, I'm concerned. Sora's trip through the darkness seems to be messing with him. I'm afraid it might cause... unforeseeable consequences."

From under the table Roxas' fists clenched. "So, sending them through that door _was_ part of his plan." Roxas said, his voice suddenly hard. "Makes sense. It's just like him to attack an innocent, just to put the odds in his own favor."

"Wait, you mean it _was_ him who attacked the island," Namine said in shock.

"Yes. I'd know his darkness anywhere."

"But why? What would he gain from destroying the island?"

"I'm not sure. But I'm gonna find out. In the meantime, we need to get Sora here. If he was open enough to attack Sora once, he might do it again."

"And we both know after last time, he won't rest until he gets what he's after."

Roxas openly flinched at this, unwanted memories plaguing his mind. After the uncomfortable pause Namine looked up to see Roxas' guilt ridden face. Namine gasped, realizing her error too late. "Oh, Roxas," she breathed. "I-I didn't mean to upset you."

"I-It's fine," Roxas said quietly, not looking her in the eyes. "How's he doing?" he said, finally, still not matching her stare.

Namine seemed surprised by this question. "He's fine. I've done all I can for him," She said, weighing her words carefully. "But, the memory flow is crippling him. Without Sora, I'm not sure how long he'll last."

Roxas turned away, nodding, his eyes full of suppressed guilt. Namine's heart broke seeing that face. "Roxas?"

Roxas looked at her, his eyes glazing over. "Yeah?"

"I... It's not your fault, Roxas," she said hesitantly. "It's _never_ been your fault. You couldn't have changed the outcome."

Roxas stood and began to leave. "I need to go."

"Roxas!" Namine called, lunging from her chair and grabbing onto his wrist. "It was his fault and you know it! You were only trying to protect your friend. But now your friend is hurt and all he wants is to see you again, please don't turn a blind eye because your so full of guilt, he needs you and if things do go wrong, this may be your last chance."

The two were silent for a moment, just staring at each other. Namine wiped the tears from her eyes, and pulled away ashamed at the display she had made. She had been talking about him, but it was her feelings she had just threw out there to him.

"Roxas I..."

The words froze on her mouth as Roxas pulled her into a hug, burying his face into her shoulder. She was stiff for a moment then returned the hug, eagerly. The two nobodies stayed like that for a while as they soaked up each others presence. Then, Roxas pulled away, leaving behind a startled but smiling Namine.

Roxas pulled his hood back up and opened the door to leave. This time Namine did nothing to stop him. He stopped just before closing the door, then turned to her, glad his hood hid his blushing cheeks.

"It was really good to see you again, Namine."

And then the door closed.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this one. It was originally going to be a pretty intense chapter, with the two being polite, blunt, and awkward , more like a business meeting. I'm glad for the change and that I even got to try my hand at a little romance. Their interactions needed the change and I'm glad I got to get this sweet, little insightful chapter out. This one was one of my favorites to write and the interactions between these two made my heart happy. I hope it wasn't too confusing on this one, describing two distinct characters while not giving away names. As always, R&amp;R, because now that I have internet at my house I'm able to enjoy the kind words given to me so much more. I write the things I love, but it's the fans I look forward to pleasing. And if anyone has any helpful tips I would love to here them, as this is my first fanfiction ever. Love you and see you soon.**


	12. The Radient Garden Restoration Committee

Chapter 11: The Hollow Bastion Radiant Garden Restoration Committee

**Disclaimer: So I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters ...But I wish I did. All rights belong to Square Enix and Disney.**

Riku, along with his two new companions, walked in silence as they put more and more distance between themselves and the castle they had just escaped from. Riku couldn't help but eye his new traveling companions wearily, an instinctual habit he had grown use to having. He had learned to be leery after his time spent with Maleficent and her corrupting darkness. Riku had been foolish then, believing he was incapable of being controlled, of being manipulated... and he had been so close to doing it again. Maybe he was just as foolish as ever.

Leon saw the grim expression on Riku's face and considered asking him to explain the whole mess they had just saved him from, but eventually decided against it. _Best not to push the kid,_ Leon thought. L_et him open up to you._

Riku caught his companion gazing at him yet again. Riku knew what he wanted, that burning curiosity written all over his face was impossible to hide. And yet, he never pried, never forced unwanted questions on him, and Riku respected him for that. Though he was still suspicious, he knew he had to at least try to give them the benefit of the doubt. He and the girl both had risked their lives to save him. Just because of past experiences didn't mean they had bad intentions in store for him.

"Thanks." Leon turned to Riku and saw the suspicion beneath his blank expression. "I really appreciate the save back there."

"No prob," Yuffie casually replied. "It was our pleasure Riku."

Leon saw the Keyblader's eyes narrow at the revelation these strangers knew his name and carefully added, "Anything for a friend of Sora's."

And just like that, all feelings of suspicion instantly dropped from Riku's mind. "Sora. You know Sora."

"That's right," Leon replied with a small nod of his head. "He and his friends, Donald and Goofy, have crossed paths with us more than once."

"Um-hmm," Yuffie agreed and flashed Riku an enormous smile. "And Sora was always going on and on about you and Kairi, right Leon?"

"Right."

Riku gasped. That name, he was sure he recognized it. He had been so distracted before, it hadn't even registered, but now that named echoed through his head, the familiarity too great to be coincidental. Suddenly realization hit him and he came to a stop as the name finally made sense in his mind. The other two stopped as well, giving him puzzling looks at his strange behavior. "Wait are you guys the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee?"

"That's right!" Yuffie replied enthusiastically. "Although now we go by the _Radiant Garden_ Restoration Committee."

"Name's Leon," Leon said with a slight nod, which Riku returned. "And that's Yuffie," he added pointing to the young women, who did a little salute at Riku.

"Riku, but you already knew that," Riku offered Leon his palm and the two shook hands. As they did, Yuffie almost chuckled, surprised by how similar the two were in both expression and gesture. "It's like having two Leons here," she mumbled under her breath and tried to stifle the laugh.

The handshake broke and Riku opened his mouth to ask another question, when suddenly a battalion of Heartless appeared out of nowhere, quickly trying to surround the warriors. All three went into their combat stances, summoning their weapons with hard glares.

"Break for town!" Leon shouted before breaking into a run, with his two companions on his tail. The Heartless rushed forward attempting to outmaneuver the heroes, only to meet their bitter end at the hands of the experienced, battle-hardened warriors.

…

"Now see here Cid. You're gadgets and electronic ma-what-cists are cluttering up my house."

"No, you see here ya old coot. I have to have these here gadgets to monitor the town."

"OLD COOT! Why I never! I'm the world's most powerful wizard lest you forget! And I demand respect!"

"Ah, quite your squakin'. I'm trying to work."

"How dare you be disrespectful to me! Why I have the right mind to-"

But the Wizard never got to finish his sentence as suddenly the door burst open and Leon, Yuffie, and Riku entered panting from the long run there. Cid swiveled around in his chair seeing the panting and exhausted trio before him.

"What happened to you," Cid asked Leon and Yuffie. Then, spotting Riku, added, "And whose this?" He pointed over to Riku who was too out of breath to answer just then.

"Yes I don't believe we've ever seen you before, my boy," Merlin said, squinting and adjusting his glasses into what he believed was a better position.

Riku, finally recovered from the long sprint to town, was able to answer the Wizard. "Riku," he said, breathing normally once again.

"Riku you said," Merlin said in shock.

Cid chuckled slightly and slapped his knee. "Well if that don't beat all, where'd you come from, kid."

"Me and Leon found him in Maleficent's castle. That witch was holding him captive. But she was no match for the Great Ninja Yuffie," Yuffie explained, pointing eagerly at herself and flashing one of her ginormous smiles.

"Technically we never met Maleficent, just her lackey, Pete," Leon corrected with little interest in Yuffie's boastful stories.

"Why was she doing that?" Cid asked Leon but it was Riku who answered.

"She was hoping to use me to get Mickey to turn over his castle to her," he explained, trying his best to hide the resentment in his voice and sound uninterested in what he was saying. But in truth he was burning with hatred on the inside. That witch was always using him for something. He never seemed to be rid of her or her schemes. But as much bitterness as Riku harbored he did his best to hide it. He knew how easily the seeds of malice could turn to darkness. He was all too familiar actually.

"Oh, your back," came a voice from behind Riku. He turned to see a young women with calm, green eyes that seemed to never miss a thing. Her voice was calm and soothing and Riku felt his unease lifting just hearing her soothing voice.

"Hey, Aerith," Yuffie said with a small wave. Then she swiftly gestured to their guest. "Look who we found."

Aerith's eyes locked with Riku and he felt as if her gentle eyes were reading him like a book, which made him feel uncharacteristically uncomfortable. He was stunned as her gaze dug into his own blue stare. He had never encountered such an intense gaze before. At least, none like hers. Finally, she approached him and looked him up and down before calmly stating, "You must be Riku."

Riku was stunned to say the least, as she smiled gently at him and held a hand out for him to take. He finally recovered and took the extended palm in his own, answering her with a simple, "Yeah."

"Sora's said a lot about you," Aerith said with a kind smile.

"Well that could be either good or bad considering what he told," Riku replied honestly.

"We've all got our darker sides, don't let it get to you." Leon replied from where he slouched in the corner. From the hard tone of his voice and the dark gaze he was giving Riku, Riku was under the impression that he was more to Leon than he cared to let on.

"So how did you get here, my boy?" Merlin asked.

"The darkness," Riku explained. "It attacked the island and while we were trying to protect it, Sora and me got pulled into a door to darkness. Next thing I know, I'm waking up here. I was hoping maybe Sora was brought here, too, but obviously that isn't the case."

"Maybe he is here somewhere and we just don't know it yet?" Yuffie suggested.

"I don't think so? If Sora was here, we would know it by now. He's not exactly subtle."

"Good point," Yuffie said, and everyone in the room nodded in agreement.

"I'm sorry, Riku," Aerith said, putting a soothing hand on his shoulder.

Riku merely shrugged, "I'll find him. I always do."

Aerith nodded, before turning to Leon and Yuffie. "So how did it go?"

"Well we didn't find out where the missing Heartless are, but we did find Riku so it wasn't a total waste," Yuffie explained.

"Wait, missing Heartless? What's that about?" Riku asked, unsure why these guys would be trying to find Heartless.

"Well, my dear boy, to put it simply," Merlin said. "The usual supply of Heartless has diminished rapidly and this has us very concerned."

"Diminished? More like disappeared altogether," Cid added, typing away at his computer.

"Yeah, the only Heartless we've seen in weeks were the ones we fought saving you, Riku," Yuffie explained.

"That's right," Leon said, pushing himself off the wall and approaching Riku. "Less Heartless is fine, but when they just vanish altogether like that, well, let's just say it left us more than a little uneasy. So me and Yuffie decided to take a trip into Villain's Vale to see what Maleficent was up to. And now we know."

"An attack on Disney Castle," Riku said.

"Right, so now that your out of the picture, what's her next move."

"Are you asking me?"

"Well you did know her better then the rest of us."

Riku sighed. "Right." He thought for a moment before answering. "Well Maleficentmnot stupid, she's not gonna waste her time with a plan that will never work. She knows it's unwise to attack the castle directly. The Cornerstone being a serious threat to her, 'cause even if she does get in there, it will weaken her power immensely, putting her at an extreme disadvantage. So most likely her plan was to either destroy the Cornerstone or…"

"Take a hostage and avoid a fight altogether," Leon finished for him.

"So do you think she will come after you again?" Aerith asked.

"Well considering it seems to be the easier option, Yeah, not to mention her bizarre interest in getting me to succumb to darkness again."

"So in other words, she's gonna try to get her hands on you no matter what," Cid said.

"Yeah, I don't see it going any other way," Riku said, deep in thought.

"So then the real question is when will she decide to strike."

"Ah-hmm..." Everyone turned to see three little, flying fairy girls, hovering in the doorway.

"We might be able to help with that," the one in front, with light, brown hair and a white dress, said. Behind her was a small, blond fairy in mostly yellow looking super perky, and a gloomy one dressed in black with bat wings.

"Who are you?" Riku asked them and the three eyed each other before going into an over-dramatic pose, before they all answered as one. "We're Radiant Garden Restoration Committee Honorary Members."

"Rikku-" The yellow one shouted, pumping her fist in the air.

"Yuna-" The white one said, bowing gracefully.

"Pain." The black one mumbled, not doing anything more then casually inclining her head in Riku's direction.

"Okaaay," Riku said, a little put off by their over-the-top behavior.

"Did you three see anything while on recon?" Leon asked, all business.

"Oh fooffie. I almost forgot," Yuna replied, doing a little stomp on the air.

As Yuna flew over to Leon to give her report, her companions approached Riku. "So who are you supposed to be?" Pain asked, as Rikku eyed him suspiciously.

"I'm Riku."

Rikku flew forward, now right in Riku's face, glaring angrily at him. "Hey, did you steal my name?" she asked suspiciously, flying even closer to him and narrowing her eyes, forcing him to step back.

"Umm..." Riku looked around for help from his friends, but most were busy doing other things.

Luckily, Pain flew up and whispered in his ear, "Just say no."

"No," Riku said, following the little goths directions.

"Okay," Rikku cheerfully replied, smiling once again. Satisfied with her answer she disappeared in a flash of sparkles, appearing next to Yuna.

Riku turned to Pain with a doubtful look. "Is she always like this?"

"You have no idea," she muttered, rolling her eyes, before flying over to join her friends. Riku watched them fly off, but upon spotting Leon's face, he felt an uncomfortable shift in the mood around him. He wasn't the only one. Everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch the conversation between Leon and the fairies, and though they couldn't hear what was being said through Yuna's whispers, Leon's face of distress seemed apparent, though he tried to hide it as best as he could. Riku moved in closer so he could here what was being said.

"I see," Leon said, his eyes closing with an intense look of concentration that only gave Riku more unease. "What's wrong?" he asked, but Leon just ignored him, turning to Yuna.

"How long till they're here?" he asked.

"An hour, maybe two," Yuna replied with a shrug.

Leon let out a deep sigh, covering his face with his hand. The others waited patiently for their leader to give his order. Finally, Leon removed his hand and was the strong leader once again.

"Yuna, Rikku, Pain, keep an eye on them and tell me when they make it into the gulch. And if there is any change, let me know," Leon said, enunciating the last bit to make sure they understood.

Yuna and Rikku both saluted him, while Pain just crossed her arms and looked away.

"You got it boss!"Rikku exclaimed, before all three vanished into sparkles once again.

Leon immediately turned to Cid. "Cid, we need the defense grid up now!"

"You got it," Cid replied already typing in the necessary keys for the job.

"Yuffie, you and Aerith head over to the castle and get the package from Tron. Along with all notes you can on the Heartless, restricted access or not."

"But, that won't be ready for another two weeks, Leon," Yuffie pointed out.

"Well tell Tron he has an hour," Leon replied, no emotion in his voice. Yuffie just nodded, she knew it was best not to argue with Leon.

"Right, leave it to us," Yuffie said, grasping the seriousness of the situation.

The two immediately headed out but Aerith halted as Leon called her name. "Be careful," he said, but she just smiled one of her graceful smiles.

"You just focus on the town, don't worry about me," she said calmly, before following after her friend.

"Cid, how's it comin'," Leon said as he approached the old man, but Merlin blocked his path.

"Now, hold on just a moment, Leon. What is all the hallobaloo about?" Merlin questioned the young man.

Leon's eyes for just a moment shifted to Riku, who was frozen on the spot. "Heartless. Lot's of them... and they're headed for town."

**A/N: Thanks for all the support. You guys are amazing, I was so happy when I got all your comments. And it makes me really glad to know everyone is enjoying my story so much. And since I got no constructive criticism I guess that means I'm doing something right! Yay! :) Still I'll gladly take any comments from you wonderful people.**

** So anyway till next time. God bless. I'll also probably be releasing two chapters next time instead of one due to the fact that they're both **_**very**_** short.**


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